Grace
by Lively Aria
Summary: The tale of Grace. One made of flesh and blood, from where? Two interweaving realities, their stories told in alternate chapters, spoilers to mid season 8. NB: alternate timeline, character death, blood scenes written by a medic, angst.
1. Chapter 1

Grace

_by_ Aria

Rating: Same as the show.

Disclaimer: I don't own them; if I did then I would be a hell of a lot richer. No one's paying me to write this, so I'm not making any profit from writing it. I'm just a sad little person with nothing to do.

Spoilers: Beneath the Surface, Grace, Heroes

Synopsis: Grace arrives through the Stargate, and it's not just Sam that can see her. Set a couple of months after Heroes.

-*-*-

"Unscheduled Off-world Activation"

The words echoed through the corridors of the SGC. Sergeant Harriman's voice carried to all the corridors on levels 20 and below, and the platoon on duty collected their weapons and shields and marched into the gate room.

Jack O'Neill skipped down the last two steps of the stairs into the Control room and sauntered towards the window. He was quickly joined by his second, Samantha Carter, jogging up the stairs. "Anyone due back?" she idly wondered aloud.

"We got four…four…five…teams off world?" He muttered, adding up names in his head.

"Five, sir" Walter informed him, pressing his earpiece. "We've got an IDC." Numbers began to spill onto the computer screen, twelve in total, forming two lines.

"Those look familiar…" The General began, as the computer flashed up his name.

"Sir?"

Carter's voice broke his scowl. "That's your IDC, sir, issued last month." He hadn't been off world since the iris defence code was logged on system – a routine change at 30 days.

Jack O'Neill pursed his lips, and then scrunched them to one side of his mouth. "Let's send a radio signal through."

Walter Harriman muttered a quick oath of compliance and then a crackle was heard over the speaker. Jack tilted his head at Carter.

"Me?" she whispered.

He placed a cupped hand over the mouthpiece. "I can hardly talk - what if it's someone pretending to be me?"

When he pulled it away, Carter leaned into the microphone. "This is Colonel Samantha Carter at the SGC, identify yourself." Jack found it charming that she introduced herself as Samantha and yet most called her Sam. It made it possible for him to use her full name to childe her.

"Sam?" The voice that came over the speaker was one that they all recognised. A low, kind sound "It's Janet…Janet Frasier, I'm the chief medical officer at Stargate Command."

The surprise in the room was palpable. Technicians in the back of the gate room stopped their ministrations and watched the monitors and senior officers.

"How is that possible?" Jack said, his words travelling through the microphone and across subspace.

"I," the voice started and then paused again as though interrupted. A quiet shushing sound crackled, half lost in static. "It's cold here; send a MALP, and some blankets or warm clothes. I'll explain everything."

Jack glanced around the room, Carter's brow was furrowed. Walter Harriman was wide eyed. "Food wouldn't hurt either!!" She commented as the wormhole disconnected.

-*-*-

Jack O'Neill tapped his pen on the desk as he waited in the briefing room. Teal'C and Daniel were sat to his right, unaware of the events that had transpired this last hour. They were waiting for Sam to return from her lab, where she had been compiling the briefing. Jack wondered what the reactions of his team would be and Sam trotted up the stairs towards the room.

"You're late." He tutted as she neared the desk.

"Uh, no she's not" said Daniel, having briefly glanced at his watch.

Teal'C didn't need to glance down, or indeed, even wear a watch to determine the time. A brief "indeed" left O'Neill feeling admonished. It was usually he who was late for their briefings, and Sam was only the last to arrive because Jack had been eagerly sat, awaiting her news.

Sam apologised anyway and walked towards the monitor. She typed a few keys on the keyboard in the corner of the room and collected the control for the projector. She briefly recounted the events in the gate room and played an audio recording of the transmission.

Daniel's reaction was more reserved the Jack had anticipated, but still, not quite subdued. His eyebrows rose to the margin of his circular spectacle frames and he looked poised to interrupt, clearly waiting until absolutely every second of Janet's voice had been heard.

Jack was sure that Teal'C's eyebrow was higher than he'd ever seen it. He made a mental note to monitor whether it was always the same eyebrow that the friendly giant levitated in times of surprise.

Carter continued "The wormhole originated on a world we've been to before P7Z 22Y, a moon, orbiting a red giant on the edge of Baal's territory." Star maps appeared and enlarged on the projector screen, and settled on a large red circle, with, Jack counted six white circles around it.

"The world was scouted by SG8, but a preliminary recon showed up nothing of cultural or metallurgical significance and they narrowly made it back to the gate prior to the arrival of a super soldier."

Carter's onscreen capture briefly displayed a soldier, photographed from the side, from afar.

Jack recalled the mission. The team had escaped unscathed, unnoticed. "Think he knew something we didn't?"

"No, sir, The Tok'Ra suspect that Baal was sending the super soldier's out to scout the worlds in Anubis' domain – to determine if any other system lord has attempted to claim them for his own. What we don't know, is if he's doing it as a matter of routine, or as reconnaissance."

It was only then that Daniel piped up "So we may only have a limited amount of time to do as she says – see if that really is Janet."


	2. Chapter 2

Grace

_by_ Aria

Chapter Two

Rating: Same as the show.

Disclaimer: I don't own them; if I did then I would be a hell of a lot richer. No one's paying me to write this, so I'm not making any profit from writing it. I'm just a sad little person with nothing to do.

Spoilers: Beneath the Surface, Point of No Return, Tangent, Grace, Heroes.

Synopsis: Grace arrives through the Stargate, and it's not just Sam that can see her. Set a couple of months after Heroes, and Lost City.

-*-*-

Samantha Carter braced an arm against the wall of her shower. Her forearm supported her body whilst waves of nausea shook her body. She watched the water off her breasts and into the whirlpool at the edge of the plughole and focused on her breathing. In through the nose, out slowly through the mouth. Slow, deep breaths designed to keep nausea at bay.

After a few moments, she regained control and was able to shampoo her cropped hair, wash her face, shave and soap. When she was satisfied that she'd soaked off 'the day at the office' and revelled in the sting of the hot water she turned off the shower taps and raised a leg out of the shower, placing it down on the bath mat.

Almost as soon as the second leg stepped out another wave quickly hit her, and she pivoted, leant down on all fours in the shower tray and heaved, expelling the contents of her stomach through her mouth.

The first heave was involuntary, but the ensuing few were triggered by the sight of a half digested spaghetti carbonara with bacon, leeks and mushrooms on the floor. Her stomach quelled and she stood turning on the shower with a swift flick and rinsing her hands.

Samantha's dinner began to wash down the plug hole, and she herself moved to sit on the toilet lid. She'd been feeling nauseated for two weeks now, starting in Montana. Then, she'd been glad it hadn't occurred whilst tied up in the warehouse in front of Daniel. Who'd have known when her well meaning friend would have stopped asking questions.

Today, having spent the day with her father and Daniel, trying to rescue the Colonel and Teal'C from a certain space death, she'd again had a reprise from the symptoms. The urge to confide in her father had hovered in the back of her mind, but he'd disappear straight through the gate to T'Kau.

Tears threatened to spill from her eyes, and the wooden box on the shelving unit taunted her further – discretely containing tampons and sanitary pads, it had remained unopened for nearly two months now.

After drying her face she turned off the shower, wrapped a towel around herself and padded into the lounge for the phone. What she didn't know was driving her crazy.


	3. Chapter 3

Grace

_by_ Aria

Chapter Three

Rating: Same as the show.

Disclaimer: I don't own them; if I did then I would be a hell of a lot richer. No one's paying me to write this, so I'm not making any profit from writing it. I'm just killing time.

Spoilers: Beneath the Surface, Point of No Return, Tangent, Grace, Heroes.

Synopsis: Grace arrives through the Stargate, and it's not just Sam that can see her. Set a couple of months after Heroes, and Lost City.

It's confusing, but my story plan will make more sense as things go on.

-*-*-

General Jack O'Neill added a Kit-Kat to the top of the pile of MREs on the MALP.

Sergeant Siler raised an eyebrow and O'Neill defended himself, after a fashion, "What? It's my favourite."

In front of the stack of rations, in front of the pneumatic grasper arm, and behind the camera lens, laid a pile of blankets and a standard issue green uniform with an SGC insignia, reserved for visitors, off worlders, and base defence personnel, without a team, which recently included him.

"MALP's about ready to go, sir. Just need to dial her up." The efficient younger man announced, patting the side of the machine.

"You heard the man…" Jack yelled. The gate was whirring into action as soon as he spoke and he skipped out of the gate room and up the C corridor staircase.

Carter sat next to Harriman at the command console. A head piece was fixed in her hair and into her ear spoke the technicians at the main electricity switch board. Her eyes didn't falter from the computer screen in front of her as Harriman announced the state of the gate in front of them.

As soon as chevron seven was "locked", Siler set the MALP in motion by remote control, walking alongside it as it motored up the ramp; he stopped on the top of the window, and steadied the wobbly pile of MREs as they passed through.

Jack watched the MALP logo dissolve and reappear in retro graphics and then Harriman activated the MALP camera. It was dark on P7Z 22Y, the middle of the night, they assumed. Nothing could be seen on screen.

"Switching to infrared."

"Surface temp's 54 degrees." Information came to Jack from the two subordinates in front of him.

A figure approached the camera lens, a small person, three foot tall appeared – small features, curly hair. Lots of exposed surfaces, they must have felt chilling.

"Switching the lights on, sir."

It was Sam whose reaction was the most surprising. "Holy Hannah – can you see her?" She stood from the console as the lights on MALP came on. The character on the screen first shielded their eyes and then removed a hand. A little girl, at most five years old, curly blonde hair, crystal blue eyes in a white dress with no sleeves stood facing the camera.

Carter pushed herself back in the chair and stood up. "Can you see her?!" She turned pointedly to General O'Neill for corroboration obviously not believing her eyes.

He didn't answer, every one in the room was disturbed by her reaction, but their attention was rediverted to the active wormhole by Janet Frasier approaching. "Gracie, damnit, why didn't you…" Her voice trailed off and she hugged the little girl in front of her.

"Hi guys!" She yelled, realising the MALPs position, and waving at the screen.

"Doc?" O'Neill spoke this time.

"Colonel?"

"Uh, actually, it's General." O'Neill corrected her, he glanced sideways at Sam who had resumed her seated position and was correcting the position of her head gear.

Onscreen Janet had knelt in front of the little girl and was fitting her with a green base defence uniform bearing an SGC insignia, the same as the one they'd placed on top of the MALP. It was evidently her own as she wore a t-shirt and green trousers. The temperature there was cool, but not freezing. Whether it was warming up or cooling down they didn't know, but the little girl was evidently not attired for the environment.

Why she was off-world, with their dead doctor, and Carter's reaction to her; Jack began working to know these items.

As if telepathic, a sense she'd always _seemed_ to exhibit, Janet spoke "I'm not a robot or alien, it's me, Janet – I'm from an alternate reality. And this is Grace, my niece. Our world, our earth has been destroyed."

"How did you get here?" Carter piped up, science having stalled whatever other concerns she had.

"Sam?" Janet moved behind the camera screen and darkness was seen to tumble off the side of the screen to the floor. When she reappeared, she had the blankets and bundled the child up in two, reclaiming her jacket.

"I can explain everything…well…a lot of it, please, at the SGC. In my reality this is part of Anubis' empire."

"How do we prove that you are…you know…you?"

"Surely the 'me' in your reality can run some tests. Please, I'll let you do whatever you like to me, just let us through – it's getting darker and colder here." The shimmering light from the wormhole was the only light seen on the planet, other than the MALP.

Jack stepped back from the mike, glancing at SG1, Teal'C and Daniel were suited and stood a little back, ready to go, ready to provide advice. "She's right, Jack, we can't leave them there." "Indeed." They chipped in and he acquiesced.

"Alright, sit tight. SG8 will be there to retrieve you shortly." Jack muttered into the mike, "And no funny business, Doc, we'll be the ones with the needles this time."

"Thanks, sir." She replied. Harriman disengaged the wormhole.

The room was silent a whole ten seconds before Daniel spoke. "Jack, I thought we had the mission?" Daniel and Teal'C, were fully suited up, weapons loaded in their uniform holsters. The plan had been for them to retrieve Janet and take her to the Alpha site for interrogation. Sam's own uniform jacket was on the back of her chair, and her P90 on a shelf at the entrance from corridor C.

"Not any more. Carter, in my office now, the rest of you are dismissed. Sergeant, get SG8 together for a briefing in twenty minutes."

Harriman muttered a yessir, as Jack started up the stairs to his office with Colonel Carter in tow.


	4. Chapter 4

Grace

_by_ Aria

Chapter Four

Rating: Same as the show.

Disclaimer: I don't own them; if I did then I would be a hell of a lot richer. No one's paying me to write this, so I'm not making any profit from writing it. I'm just killing time.

Spoilers: Beneath the Surface, Point of No Return, Tangent, Serpent's Venom, Grace, Heroes.

Synopsis: Grace arrives through the Stargate, and it's not just Sam that can see her. Set a couple of months after Heroes, and Lost City.

It's confusing, but my story plan will make more sense as things go on.

-*-*-

Samantha Carter was completely silent. Completely and utterly silent, it was against every fibre of her being, but she stood, at ease, in front of General Hammond's desk. She felt like a kid in trouble in front of the principal, or a cadet in front of their commanding officer…or what she imagined that felt like.

General Hammond's attention was on her medical report, open in front of him, her latest set of test results. "I don't know what to say to you, Samantha; I've known you since you were a cadet. I just, I never expected anything like this."

It took him a while to discover the courage to look at her face to face. "Are you sure about this?" His face was that of a general, but the words and voice were that of a concerned grandfather. The only problem with having her father's training buddy as a boss.

"Yes, sir, we don't know what gate travel will do to a developing foetus. I can't continue travelling off world in my current…" she faltered. The changes she was about to make were settling in so gradually, but this conversation would put it all into effect. Everyone would know now "…if I'm pregnant."

General Hammond nodded; he motioned to the chair between them. "It means leaving SG1. I'll have to reassign another scientist, but we can consider other options after the child is born."

Sam sat down, "off record, Sam, is the dad happy?"

She looked down at her hands. What could she say without causing the well meaning older man to think ill of her? The world of courting had changed so much since he met his wife, now gone and unreplaced.

He continued "Doctor Frasier puts the date of conception some time in March, which was when you were memory stamped. Is there something you left out of your report?"

A middle truth, "The father and I knew each other before the mission, we're no longer together, things…changed whilst I was on that mission."

Again he nodded, this time closing her folder. He smiled broadly at her "You know it won't be easy, Samantha, but if you're set on this, the love you will feel…" He tailed off, "…well, it makes it all worth it." They shared a pause and shared a smile. Sam placed her hands on both chair arms, about to rise; "Have you told your father?"

"No, sir, I was going to invite him to 'holiday' on earth." He nodded.

"Colonel O'Neill?" She shook her head, feeling suddenly full behind the eyes. "I think you should form part of the conversation." She nodded slowly, clearly not keen.


	5. Chapter 5

Grace

_by_ Aria

Chapter Five

Rating: Same as the show.

Disclaimer: I don't own them; if I did then I would be a hell of a lot richer. No one's paying me to write this, so I'm not making any profit from writing it. I'm just killing time.

Spoilers: Beneath the Surface, Point of No Return, Tangent, Serpent's Venom, Grace, Heroes.

Synopsis: Grace arrives through the Stargate, and it's not just Sam that can see her. Set a couple of months after Heroes, and Lost City.

Everyone's getting confused with this story! Can you tell I've not written fic in a while?? Sorry guys, Alternate chapters take place in the past in the AU, it was supposed to all come to a head at the end and suddenly be obvious then! I thought some people would figure it out but I don't want those who hadn't to get fed up.

Thanks for the feed back!

-*-*-

He held the door open for her and then shut it quickly behind her, with a thump. "Care to explain what happened down there, Colonel?" She swiftly turned to face him.

"Sir?" She was stalling, rather than feigning ignorance.

"In the control room?" He prompted further.

"I don't know how to explain it, sir, but I've seen that little girl before."

Jack muttered surprise and sat down. He didn't suggest that Carter did the same.

"Or at least, I've thought of her before…Remember when I was stranded aboard the Prometheus last year? I had a concussion, I kept…seeing things. I saw her. I called her Grace, she provided me with the clues I needed to get home."

Jack's blank expression prompted her to continue. "I saw other people as well, you guys, you all posited different scenarios. Kept me thinking, kept me sane." Jack snorted, but she continued. "It stopped when I returned, as the headache settled with the steroids. I haven't seen anything since…so I'm not crazy if that's what you're thinking."

"Oh, I wouldn't think anything similar Carter, but…why don't you report to the Infirmary just in case."

"Sir," Carter questioned.

He took his feet off the desk and shoed her "Humour me, Carter."

Sam Carter backed slowly out of the office's rear entrance. SG8 were already assembling in briefing room. Jack headed out to get started.


	6. Chapter 6

Grace

_by_ Aria

Chapter Six

Rating: Same as the show.

Disclaimer: I don't own them; if I did then I would be a hell of a lot richer. No one's paying me to write this, so I'm not making any profit from writing it. I'm just killing time.

Spoilers: Beneath the Surface, Point of No Return, Tangent, Serpent's Venom, Grace, Heroes.

Synopsis: Grace arrives through the Stargate, and it's not just Sam that can see her. Set a couple of months after Heroes, and Lost City.

Just in case anyone is still confused, I'm telling two stories that will eventually intertwine here. Even chapters are one story, odds are another. It'll become obvious quickly how they join.

-*-*-

"It's not Gate travel, sir."

General Hammond was not impressed with her retort. "That's a fine distinction, Major. The effects of space travel on a foetus have not yet been proven yet either. I assume you haven't told either your father or Colonel O'Neill, otherwise I can't imagine either of them agreeing to your presence on this mission."

He was breathing deeply, obviously distressed and enraged.

"Sir, they'll need a scientist on this mission."

"Then pick someone to replace you."

"Someone with my field experience, and practical, working knowledge of the Stargate, Goa'uld vessels and Ancient technology, no sir, I don't think there is anyone." She was fairly sure that counted as being over the line of insubordination.

He let out a huff, "Very well, Major, but you will inform Colonel O'Neill about your condition prior to your return, or I will."

General Hammond stormed out of his office and left her standing in the middle of the room. She looked to her side. If anyone had been left in the briefing room they would have seen an obviously heated debate. Luckily Daniel, Jack and her father had left the room quickly after the debriefing, to prepare for their mission to the Tobin system.

-*-*-

Her father and Daniel were asleep, in the small side room that served as a decompression area off to the starboard side of the ship. The girls' quarters were the port side; they hadn't been able to open up those areas into the main bay. Colonel O'Neill was on watch, observing the cargo ship autopilot to the Tobin system…and playing with his yo-yo, she realised as she wandered into the main bay.

"What're you doing up, Carter? We need you to rest that mega brain of yours for when we reach the Tobin system." He said, by way of greeting.

Sam took a seat next to him at the control console and leaned towards him. She began as she had rehearsed in her bed. "Sir, I'm afraid this will most likely be the last mission I'll be on as part of SG1."

"Carter?"

She continued. "For personal reasons I'll no longer be embarking on gate travel for the near future."

"Was it something we said?"

She pursed her lips together and swallowed. He would find out anyway, even if she took a reassignment, area 51 perhaps, they would visit, rumours would be overheard. "Sir, I'm pregnant."

He had no more quips for her. They sat in silence. Jack wasn't even looking at her at first. Eventually he noticed her wringing hands and reached out to them, she stopped as he squeezed tightly. There was more silence as she waited to see if he would ask – 'is it mine?'

"We'll be sorry to lose you. Do the boys know?"

She shook her head. "No, sir, nor does my father yet – that's why I invited him to holiday here, but after the transmission, I didn't want him to worry."

"Is it mine?"

"No." She was taken off guard, even though she thought she'd been anticipating the question a moment ago. She'd gone over this conversation in her mind, whether to say no or yes, whether to ask for help, proclaim her love for him, or simply inform him…or slip off into the night, leave for area 51 or any other posting before she got too big.

Technically the child wasn't his anyway, it wasn't hers. It was Jonah and Thera's.


	7. Chapter 7

Grace

_by_ Aria

Chapter Seven

Rating: Same as the show.

Disclaimer: I don't own them; if I did then I would be a hell of a lot richer. No one's paying me to write this, so I'm not making any profit from writing it. I'm just killing time.

Spoilers: Beneath the Surface, Point of No Return, Tangent, Serpent's Venom, Grace, Heroes.

Synopsis: Grace arrives through the Stargate, and it's not just Sam that can see her. Set a couple of months after Heroes, and Lost City.

Just in case anyone is still confused, I'm telling two stories that will eventually intertwine here. Even chapters are one story, odds are another. It'll become obvious quickly how they join.

-*-*-

SG8's iris code had been verified before Jack's arrival to the Gate room. He authorised the opening of the Iris as he stood on the deck and the team were starting through the wormhole when he reached the view port window.

The team of three men and one woman over towered the diminutive doctor and SG8's team leader, Captain Hall carried the girl in his arms. She wore his circular helmet and a large grin. O'Neill wasn't sure whether to reprimand the officer or not. He had a soft spot for kids as well.

He skipped down the stairs and out into the gate room to meet the team at the bottom of the ramp. "Any trouble, guys?"

Major Hall's 2IC shook his head. "No, sir, they've both been well behaved. Doc Frasier had a zat on her - which Charlie's got holstered, and the prelim tests at the Alpha site were clean, no snakes in either of them. This little one's been a treat, if a bit quiet." He reached out and squeezed the shoulder of the little girl.

Her eyes were fixed on Jack O'Neill and so full of wetness he was surprised she wasn't crying. When he met her eye she flailed out her arms, grasping for Janet. She took the girl from the Captain and muttered comforting words. "Infirmary, doc" Jack ordered, and watched the team retreat from the gate room. The crystal blue eyes stayed focussed on him as the team marched off.

Jack O'Neill's heart strings tugged.

-*-*-

He couldn't believe he'd nearly dozed off whilst reading a metallurgical analysis report. What's more, he'd done it in his office, with a big glass window allowing Teal'C, Daniel and faux-Doc Frasier to see his small puddle of drool.

It was Daniel's knock on the window that had woken him up. Daniel's smile told him his humiliation was complete.

He rose to stand and shook out his legs quickly before making his way into the briefing room. He sat at the top of the table. "Well, then, let's hear it." He prompted Janet Frasier.

She took a seat to his left and Daniel and Teal'C to the right. Nobody commented on Sam's absence, so eager were they to learn more about this version of their colleague. "Grace and I fled our world two days ago – through the Stargate to one of Anubis' outposts. In our world it's under the control of Lord Ba'al, a research site. He was experimenting with many different technologies, one similar to the quantum mirror. Initially our plan was to destroy the place, but when you, sir, or our version of you, realised that there was a working model, you sent us through and destroyed the base yourself."

"You went to this world as part of a mission?"

"Yes, sir, we left the SGC with you, Teal'C and Daniel…Sam set off the self-destruct when the Control room was overrun whilst dialling the gate."

Daniel piped up, "What was a child doing on a mission?"

"She was on the base, we just…didn't know what else to do but take her."

"I assume you want asylum?"

Janet nodded.

"Daniel, check the personnel records, see if Janet had a niece in this reality…"

"She did not. Daniel Jackson, Samantha Carter and myself have met her siblings. None had children." Teal'C added to the conversation. Daniel nodded agreement.

"…had…"

"You died a hero, Doc; one of the airmen in SG6 has a daughter named after you."

She pursed her lips and nodded glumly. "Thank you, we…we can't go back. The explosion destroyed the gate on our earth, and…even if it hadn't, Anubis was quickly destroying our cities.

"He came a week ago, convinced we had knowledge or a weapon to destroy him, destroyed most the major cities from orbit, having initially made claims of peace to the President and General Hammond in the White House. They took the mountain by ground troops, super soldiers; they just…killed…everyone that got in their way."

"Anubis came a few weeks ago – we defeated him with ancient knowledge." Daniel informed her.

"How?"

"There was a weapon buried…"

"Danny boy," Jack interrupted, "Let's just wait for the DNA tests to get back, eh?"

Daniel and Janet both nodded. Jack didn't want to give the goose away, just in case she turned out to be a clone or robot or something. "Doc, you're to stay on base for the time being – we've got the test results and other than that, well, there might be a legal nightmare for you, out there…" he gestured into the distance. "Some SFs will keep an eye on you for now."

Janet grinned at the two watchmen by the stairs. Jack scowled at one as they grinned back. "Thank you, sir."

Jack rose, and Janet did as well. Daniel and Teal'C were a little slower, less formal on the beat. "Is your version of Sam somewhere as well? I know she's not the same person, but we're good friends where I come from."

"Oh, you are here too, she's in the infirmary, getting a quick psych eval" Jack replied, earning raised eyebrows from Daniel and Teal'C. Inwardly he punched himself as he realised he couldn't remember which eyebrow it had been earlier.

Janet looked slightly startled, "I see…in that case sir, can I talk to you privately?"

Jack pulled his confused face and they headed into his office.


	8. Chapter 8

Grace

_by_ Aria

Chapter Eight

Rating: Same as the show.

Disclaimer: I don't own them; if I did then I would be a hell of a lot richer. No one's paying me to write this, so I'm not making any profit from writing it. I'm just killing time.

Spoilers: Beneath the Surface, Point of No Return, Tangent, Serpent's Venom, Grace, Heroes.

Synopsis: Grace arrives through the Stargate, and it's not just Sam that can see her. Set a couple of months after Heroes, and Lost City.

Just in case anyone is still confused, I'm telling two stories that will eventually intertwine here. Even chapters are one story, odds are another. It'll become obvious quickly how they join.

-*-*-

"This is delicious," Selmak spoke; Jacob Carter fed them another mouthful of food. Sam had collected takeout from her favourite Chinese on their way home and now they sat at the dining room table.

His holiday was cut short. The death of Heru'ur meant he had to return early to the Tok'Ra base, and he'd only just gotten off the phone with Mark to say he wouldn't be able to visit.

"I'm pregnant." Samantha Carter found many things easier to say if she just blurted them out.

Jacob Carter chewed his food slowly. He hadn't even swallowed when…

"Say something, Dad, please, just say something."

He continued slowly absorbing the mouthful of chicken stir-fry that, until seconds ago had been the only sensory experience he cared for. Sam stood up and moved to the window.

"Tell me you're angry with me, or that I'm throwing my rank away, or…Dad, please just say something."

"Your father is surprised, Samantha." Selmak spoke first.

"With all respect, Selmak, I really need my Dad right now." Sam felt a flicker of irritation at the intrusion of the symbiote.

He nodded and bowed his head. "You don't seem too happy about it?" Jacob Carter spoke and then rose to stand beside his daughter at the window. When he pulled her to face him, he enveloped her into a hug. She looked near tears.

"It's far from ideal." She muttered into his shoulder. Samantha Carter had spent nearly a month arranging her shift patterns and dealing with nausea. The idea of being happy or unhappy about this child hadn't even entered her mind.

"I take it the father is nowhere to be found?" Jacob thanked himself he'd never had to deal with this as a younger man – if this sort of thing had happened preSelmak, the heart attack would have carried him off. His daughter was in her thirties and the urge to beat the crap out of the boy was still present. He doubted that would have eased much if she were married and planning a child, and this was all despite his persistent taunting for grandchildren. He rubbed the nape of his daughter's neck and felt his jumper begin to dampen.

"He doesn't know. It's such a mess." He nodded, not really understanding.

"Does George…do Jack, Teal'C and Daniel know?"

"Not all of them, not yet – the General and Colonel O'Neill…this was my last off world mission."

"Jack let you come on my mission, knowing that you were…" He pushed her away to face him, a surge of anger – at the man who'd he thought of like a cheeky nephew – reared its head. Selmak tried to calm him, and this time it was he who was irritated at the intrusion of the symbiote.

She sternly shook her head, stopping his anger. "He didn't know 'til we were in hyperspace, enroute…and I pleaded with General Hammond, Dad."

He continued to hold her at arm's length. "How long have you known?"

"I don't know…I wondered for…the OB says I'm ten weeks now." Jacob glanced at her belly; a loose shirt hid any bulge from his eyes. Her fatigues at work hadn't betrayed a thing, though belted with a tight tshirt. But then her mother had had a small belly whilst pregnant as well, a 'volley ball' tummy, which she'd been ever grateful for.

"And the father…" He prompted his daughter, she lowered her head further. When there was no response "Samantha, look at me…"

Samantha Carter wiped her eyes and held her father's gaze. He hated to see her so weak, she was normally so resilient. He found himself flickering from anger at the father to a sympathetic pain with his daughter so frequently in the last two minutes. Surely if there was one person she should be able to tell… "Colonel O'Neill and I had our memories wiped off world, we didn't know who we were, what we did at work, about regulations…"

Jacob Carter finally let his daughter go and walked back over to dinner table, shaking his head. He began emphatically moving his hands as he spoke. "So, you haven't told him he's the father?"

Samantha shook her head. "You realise how much this would mean to him, after what you told me happened with his son?" He did his best to sound neutral, but Samantha must have detected the air of his question.

She swallowed slowly. She hadn't really thought about it like _that_. Her eyes stung again and she looked up at the ceiling, blinking again. "It's..._so_…complicated, Dad."

Enough was enough; he couldn't bear to be the one to bring her to tears again. Jacob Carter moved around the table and took his seat again. "Come on," he lifted his fork once more, "it'll get cold."

Sam wiped her eyes clean and took her seat at the table. Her dad squeezed her hand reassuringly as she reached for her fork and then released it, letting her eat. It didn't take long before her eyes were dry and her nose running with the sting of chilli instead. After a few minutes the silence was broken by discussion of Sam's brother, Mark, of the brief news he had imparted to his father on their phone call.

When they were cleaning the dishes away at the end of the meal Jacob very briefly brought the subject to light again. "Someday it'll just boil down to your having a child with a man you love, Sam."

Samantha Carter smiled at the simplicity of the thought as they corrected her kitchen and retired.

-*-*-

She found herself awake in the middle of the night watching the ceiling. Not for the first time, she slid a hand to sit on her belly. For the first time, however, she allowed herself to let her thoughts drift to the nights Jonah and Thera had their clandestine meetings, to the night they'd conceived their child.

"I remember feeling 'feelings'"

"For me?"

"No, for Tor…I don't remember much, but I do remember that."

"So"

"So, I'm just saying."

"Well then I feel better…" She'd been so bold, and why not? He'd just admitted to caring for her, so she'd kissed him.

For some reason, when they parted, she'd expected a joke, but instead the reaction their bodies had was one of longing, not for weeks, but as though they'd known each other for years. She wasn't scared of the way his body reacted, of this being too quick, or if hers wasn't what he imagined, they just made love, on top of their rattan clothes on a floor in a disused boiler room. Afterwards they lay side by side and held their hands, fingers entwined up towards the skylight.

"Your eyes look like the sky." He'd told her, with such assurance that they both knew they had seen it.

They dressed quickly, and made their way back to the quarters they lived in. As they reached her turn in the corridor he whispered his goodnight and she called him back. "Jonah, what if…whatever we've forgotten…what if it's not simple, for us, I mean?"

He looked so confused. Her heart sung, in complete contradiction to her thoughts, her

"I just, I feel like we've just do something terribly taboo."

"Well if someone notices us before…"

"Not that, just, something else." Her words, his reply, precise parts of the memory escaped her, but what he'd said at the end of the conversation stuck in her mind.

"I just know that I, whoever I am, I'll be there for you…always."

Certain things had come back to her quickly when they'd stepped back through the Stargate. She'd known how to drive even if she'd gotten lost on her way home. She'd been able to boil a cup of coffee and known what to order off of the Chinese menu, even if the telephone had been an enigma to her. She'd slipped into calling him sir even before she knew what the term meant. Hiding her emotions had been easy.

The memories of the night with Jonah made her happy. There was a sense of fulfilment, of destiny. She was happy about this child – even if the father and the effect the baby would have on her life was so terrifying she wanted to pack her bags and flee, she was happy about this child.


	9. Chapter 9

Grace

_by_ Aria

Chapter Nine

Rating: Same as the show.

Disclaimer: I don't own them; if I did then I would be a hell of a lot richer. No one's paying me to write this, so I'm not making any profit from writing it. I'm just killing time.

Spoilers: Beneath the Surface, Point of No Return, Tangent, Serpent's Venom, Grace, Heroes.

Synopsis: Grace arrives through the Stargate, and it's not just Sam that can see her. Set a couple of months after Heroes, and Lost City.

Just in case anyone is still confused, I'm telling two stories that will eventually intertwine here. Even chapters are one story, odds are another. It'll become obvious quickly how they join.

-*-*-

Samantha Carter found herself wondering…even if this psych evaluation did turn up that she was indeed 'crazy', what exactly would General O'Neill do about it?

'I mean, it's not like his would be much better.'

So with a jubilant step she left Mackenzie's office and headed for the elevator, humming the Simpsons' theme tune. General O'Neill was stood in the elevator when the doors opened, and looked a little too surprised to see her. When he took her by the arm and walked her, him forwards, her backwards, into the nearest available room and pulled the door shut, she became nervous as to whether he was indeed concerned about her mental well being.

"Sir?"

"Carter, look, we've got a problem…"

"Sir?"

"When we were on 289 – the planet where our minds were wiped – we didn't do anything stupid, did we?"

Again, all Carter could think to say was "Sir?"

"We didn't have sex, did we?" His voice heightened on the word 'sex' as did hers when she once again replied.

"Sir?!"

"Be a little more constructive, would you, Carter?"

"Fine, can I turn the light on?" Samantha Carter felt towards the door and pressed the switch she found to the left of it. Bright white light flooded the room and stung their eyes, when the moment passed Carter made out the shelves of Med-Evac equipment and wrapped sterile equipment.

She was in a store room with her boss, talking about sex – it would be a rumour mill catastrophe. "What are you talking about?"

"I don't remember us having sex, could the mind stamp have, wiped it in some way?" She'd have found the height of the General's voice, coupled with his obvious lack of comfort amusing, if it wasn't so embarrassing to her as well.

She shook her head, "No, sir, from what Brennan told me, the memory stamp worked on previous memories, but only if we were kept from familiar circumstances – it wouldn't have prevented new memories from forming."

"Phew," General O'Neill slumped a little against one of the shelving units. He looked relieved. Sam felt very confused.

"Sir?"

Jack O'Neill realised that his very brainy 2IC currently had no idea why they were talking like this. "That little girl, Grace, she's ours Carter, from an alternate reality."

"Ours?" She gulped. He felt a sense of pride in having made her monosyllabic.

"Yours and mine, or rather Jonah and Thera's." He explained.

"In our new Doc Frasier's world, I didn't get the ancient knowledge downloaded, again," a hint of bitterness and a wince betrayed themselves, "Or rather…their me, so, Anubis destroyed their earth. You…their you got them through the Gate, and their me destroyed the technology that got them to our reality."

Sam nodded, slowly; Jack O'Neill wondered if she'd already gotten it, given what he realised was probably a pretty lousy explanation.

"Our new Doc Frasier?" She summarised her ongoing queries.

"I've granted them asylum, I mean, I know I've got to ask the President, but in theory there shouldn't be any ectopic cascade failure, should there? One's dead and the other…doesn't exist."

Sam suppressed a giggle, "No, sir, shouldn't be a problem."

'From a purely scientific point of view' Sam inwardly added, she couldn't imagine how awkward this could become for her. She couldn't think how this would logically become an addition to their world. It was with her mind elsewhere that she noticed the General move to open the door and hold it for her to pass through…

"So, we've got a daughter…" was what she chose to say…as she stepped out of the store room to face SG2, enroute for their post-mission physicals. Beetroot was, apparently, a skin tone.


	10. Chapter 10

Grace

_by_ Aria

Chapter Ten

Rating: Same as the show.

Disclaimer: I don't own them; if I did then I would be a hell of a lot richer. No one's paying me to write this, so I'm not making any profit from writing it. I'm just killing time.

Spoilers: Beneath the Surface, Point of No Return, Tangent, Serpent's Venom, Grace, Heroes.

Synopsis: Grace arrives through the Stargate, and it's not just Sam that can see her. Set a couple of months after Heroes, and Lost City.

Just in case anyone is still confused, I'm telling two stories that will eventually intertwine here. Even chapters are one story, odds are another. It'll become obvious quickly how they join.

-*-*-

At that moment, Samantha Carter would have given anything for a beer.

Across the room, Jack O'Neill was talking to the latest in a long line of field scientists who had tried to replace her on SG1. "No one can replace you, Sam." Daniel had said to her, indicating she should have been flattered that in the months since she'd been removed from field duty, twelve separate science officers had rotated through SG1.

Ten of them had been male. Only four had done more than a single mission. Kaitlin Turner was an army reservist who had a PhD in astrobiology, or "space plants, bugs and goo" as she had heard Jack O'Neill introduce her to others at the party.

Sam tried to turn her attention back to Daniel. He was regaling her with a story, that she was sure was supposed to be funny, about Teal'C's most recent exploits. He had taken to the movie _Shaft_ so much so that he had explained to a gate airman the double entendre of "…a black private…"

Kaitlin Turner had been on five missions with SG1, and Jack O'Neill was touching her arm.

Daniel had noticed she wasn't paying attention. The rest of the crowd was laughing, obviously knowing how to complete the catchphrase. Daniel's eyes met hers with a lopsided grin. Sam made a weak attempt and then took a long swig of her blackcurrant and soda.

He gaze drifted downwards to her bulge. Whilst the vertical pinstripes on her black cotton jumper created a sleeker silhouette, they couldn't rival the slender figure of Dr Turner, whose silky top rode up to reveal her belly during her joking with her superior officer.

When the laughter from the airmen around Daniel died down, that of Colonel O'Neill's group surged forward. Long blonde hair swung in the breeze and in avid laughter, at the top of five and a half foot of long legs.

Daniel scooped her arm and leant into her side. "You okay?" He whispered conspiratorially. He hadn't caught the direction of her gaze, or if he had, imagined her to be looking wistfully into the distance.

She smiled and nodded. One to one conversation was easier to focus on. "Yeah, would just love a beer."

Daniel bumped her, "you lush." He admonished. "I'm sure you could have one? Janet's about somewhere…"

Sam shook her head ferverently "No way! I'd be terrified the child would end up with a shrunken head or something, as it is, I'm nervous it'll have naquada-mo-globin."

Daniel chuckled. It was easy with him. She didn't feel like they were always catching up. She guessed that was because they'd always have had to explain their work to each other anyway. "So, I know you hate this question, so I don't ask it very often, but…how many weeks?"

Sam had initially wondered if he was asking her so many questions about how pregnant she was, what the father thought of the pregnancy to catch her out, to figure it out for himself. She had felt both a sense of relief and loss when she'd realised it wasn't anything so sinister. "Thirty" she replied, "Kicking and everything, Janet says the scans all look good."

"Although I am sure you will find the role of a mother pleasing, Samantha Carter, you are missed on SG1." Teal'C chipped in, joining the conversation.

This was not the first time he had said such a thing, but it didn't lose its meaning and Sam hoped it wouldn't be the last.

"Any of the replacements getting on well?" Sam asked, trying to sound nonchalant.

Daniel shook his head, "No one in quite the same way," Sam's gaze drifted to Colonel O'Neill.

Kaitlin Turner was a lecturer at the University of Colorado when she wasn't working at the SGC. Whilst she was a subordinate on missions, she didn't hesitate to banter and flirt with the men around her socially. Sam had seen her in the commissary. Once in town. She'd enjoyed her company until she'd realised that Colonel O'Neill evidently did too.

Perhaps he had a thing for scientists.

"Not sure if General Hammond likes it this way, different pieces for different puzzles…" Daniel finished. "The guys that've joined us are happy because they get to keep working on the same mystery when they get home – not pick up someone else's toy." There was a note in his voice that someone who knew him wouldn't have picked up on. Sam wouldn't have missed it if she weren't feeling a green demon inside her. He felt like he was missing out on all the lab based fun.

A few moments of awkward silence went past, only half noticed.

Across the room Dr Turner walked out onto Daniel's balcony. Colonel O'Neill turned and spotted Sam. She felt her cheeks burn when he realised she'd been watching him already. Her eyes immediately darted.

Daniel provided an exit for her, "Gosh, look at the time, we'd better get the cake going…"

It was Colonel O'Neill's birthday, which was why the SGC had crowded into Daniel's apartment on a Saturday evening with lots of beer.

And cake, Sam had bought a sheet cake with a thick layer of chocolate fudge icing. Happy birthday was written on it in a white buttercream. "Right! Holy Hannah!" She remarked when it was her turn. "I'll go get it."

Daniel tried to help, but she batted him off, fleeing their small group as Colonel O'Neill approached over Daniel's shoulder.

A couple of labrats were leaving the kitchen as she entered, and she resisted the urge to close and baton the door after them. Her chest was pounding. She was angry and upset. She was jealous and scared.

What felt worse was that she had no right to feel this way.

She saw Colonel Jack O'Neill twice a week. Four times at most, in one, since she had left SG1. Whilst she'd relished those brief moments of contact, flirty smiles and teasing comments, she had always told herself that it was entirely likely that he did not. But to see him talking to another woman, enjoying her company in a way that she had only rarely allowed herself to dream about, dashed those thoughts away.

Her cheeks burned, her ears felt full of blood. Her heart was pounding. It was the worst possible time for him to walk in.

"Hey, Carter!" He greeted her with more buoyancy than she expected, "Thought I saw you escape in here. How've you been? I didn't see you arrive."

An inescapable anger welled inside her. If he could greet her so brightly – in a manner that suggested that whatever they had, whatever they'd 'left in the room' was unchanged, it made her intangibly unhappy. "Not surprised." She muttered under her breath.

"You been here long? Have you met any of the scientists we've been lumbered with recently? Quite a few other them are here, you know." He moved to Daniel's tall fridge and retrieved a beer. "They can't hold a candle to you, Carter." He added, twisting the top off a glass vial of Guiness.

Sam remained silent, sliding the cake in its box and plastic bag out from a shelf in the unit where she stood.

Moments passed, the song in the next room changed. She caught a glimpse of the General leaning against the fridge watching her in the chrome cooker hood. Their eyes met again and Sam felt another well of anger.

Watching her, gazing at her, how dare he! "I gather some have worked out better than others."

"Yeah, well…"

She didn't really let him start. "It would appear Dr Turner is settling in nicely with the team." Sam kept her back to him as opened the plastic bag and then the box, revealing the cake. "You two seem to be getting on very well."

Samantha Carter let out a long huff; it wasn't needed for Jack to notice the tension in her voice. Siler wandered in and noticed the cold breeze, retrieving a bowl of chips on the side; out of the thick wires extending between the room's two other occupants.

"What's wrong, Sam?" The use of her first name startled her. It shouldn't have. He'd dropped it in more and more when he loitered in her lab to play with her doohickeys. The look of wonder on his face was a strict opposite to the confusion playing out now, when Samantha finally turned to look at him.

Sam closed her eyes and touched her finger tips to the bridge of her nose. 'Don't cry' she willed herself, cursing, not for the first time, her pregnancy hormones. She realised how cruel she was being. She had no right to try to punish him, make him ashamed of flirting with another woman.

"I'm sorry, sir." The use of his salutation reminded her of the distance between them, helping her composure. "I think I'm going to head out. I'm in a really odd mood, snapping at…must be the hormones." She made a beeline for the door, but Jack O'Neill stretched an arm out to the opposite door frame, blocking her exit.

In an obviously guilty move, she backed into the room, leaving him space to shut the kitchen door.

Instantly the party noise dropped to a low rumble, and their voices seemed louder in comparison. "Carter?" She reminded herself no one could hear them.

She was silent. Was she to elaborate on the nature of the foul mood that had become her? Should it be fictitious elaboration, or should she describe the anguish that she felt at seeing the man she loved enjoying another woman's jokes?

"Carter?" He prodded again.

He was coming closer. She turned away from him, unable to look at his face. He came to rest behind her. To the side enough to place a gentle hand on the small of her spine.

She took a deep gulp. "I saw you with my replacement."

"She's funny." He muttered by way of explanation.

Did he have a 'thing' for scientists? Or was it just blondes? Or perhaps a power struggle – a woman to call him 'sir' in bed? Errant thoughts in an angry, anguished brain. The part of Samantha that was rational, that knew that she had made the choice not to tell him, decided to take a brief holiday, and the heart broken woman spoke out. "Do you care for her?" She paused, for dramatic and spiteful effect. "A lot more than you're supposed to?"

Her mocking elicited a snarl. "What would you have me do? I never see you. Even if I did, you've changed. We've changed. Our relationship has changed."

Sam had never expected such rash comments from her would elicit likewise from him. She hadn't expected reassurance, but his response left searing emotional cuts. There was silence in the room for quite sometime whilst they gathered the strength to speak again.

Samantha turned to look at him and his features softened. Their fingertips made contact on the kitchen worksurface startling them both and their eyes locked.

Daniel burst through the kitchen door, "How's the cake coming…" he asked as he noticed the scene in front of him. Silence ensued as the words took moments to process in Sam's brain. "Right…I'll…come back for it in a minute." He shut the door again.

When Sam had the courage to look back at Colonel O'Neill, his gaze was now fixed on her swollen belly. He retracted his hand from hers. "You're having another man's baby, Sam; I could never…interrupt…a family, like that."

He briskly walked out of the kitchen, collecting his bottle of beer on the way.

Samantha sniffed back a few tears threatening to fall as she placed and lit a packet of candles. A few more minutes, she told herself, as she lit the candles. She opened the kitchen door and had an airman turn out the lights for her as she made her way into the lounge with the birthday cake. The room erupted into a rendition of 'He's a jolly good fellow' as she did so and quickly afterwards 'Happy Birthday'. Kaitlin Turner appeared behind Sam, clapping gleefully as the candles went. Jack O'Neill's vision didn't deviate to her once, not from Sam eyes with a sense of longing. He didn't close his eyes to blow out the candles. He didn't look over when she brightly asked "What did you wish for, Jack?" Sam held the cake for him to cut his slice. Shivers tingled down her spine as she held the cake board for him to cut slices, Daniel passing them around the room.


	11. Chapter 11

Grace

_by_ Aria

Chapter Eleven

Rating: Same as the show.

Disclaimer: I don't own them; if I did then I would be a hell of a lot richer. No one's paying me to write this, so I'm not making any profit from writing it. I'm just killing time.

Spoilers: In the line of duty, Divide and Conquer, Beneath the Surface, Point of No Return, Tangent, Serpent's Venom, Grace, Heroes.

Synopsis: Grace arrives through the Stargate, and it's not just Sam that can see her. Set a couple of months after Heroes, and Lost City.

Just in case anyone is still confused, I'm telling two stories that will eventually intertwine here. Even chapters are one story, odds are another. It'll become obvious quickly how they join.

Thanks for the reviews so far.

-*-*-

Laughter erupted down the hallway as Jack led the way towards the isolation rooms. When the reached room one, he nodded curtly to the airmen, and rather than walking into the room he took the stairs up to the observation gallery. Carter followed, and they joined Daniel and Teal'C sat in the dark.

From their vantage point they could see Grace, sat at a short desk with a set of crayons. Right handed, harsh, to and fro lines were being drawn in a blue at the top of a landscape A4 drawing. Jack couldn't make out the details. She had been bathed since he'd first seen her, and had a second medical on arrival to earth. Now she was wearing a green hospital top.

Daniel had been waiting for Jack to arrive to start the interview. "She's been working on a drawing of her family. I had the airman ask her to start."

Sam sat down in one of the chairs in front of the microphone. She leaned forward on her elbows and watched the small child. She wasn't quite the Grace from her imagination. She was probably a bit younger, pale gold curls were dampened, beginning to spring forth again after a bath. Her focus was singularly on the drawing in front of her. Sam had no impression of fear looking at her. This child was sat in a room with an armed guard trained on her, in a strange world and she was at home.

"But the first thing she asked for was a crayon she'd had in her pocket which we hadn't released yet." Daniel continued. He placed a plastic bag containing a green-gold crayon on desk in front of Jack.

Jack collected the bag and bunched it so he could see the trademark lettering and colour name. "Crayola does Peridot." He muttered, passing the crayon to Sam. She absently accepted it, focussed on the child.

"Anything else on her?"

"Paperclip necklace." Daniel replied. "Nothing else, it's a genuine crayon and they're genuine paperclips, made of steel wire…so she obviously knows you."

Jack exhaled sharply and sat back. Daniel was watching him, after a brief period of Jack obviously looking anywhere but there, he met Daniel's gaze. "She's my daughter, alternate me, anyway."

Daniel raised his eyebrows. "So you married Janet's sister in that reality…"

"Fraser was protecting us; she's mine and Sam's daughter in another world."

"I see." Teal'C interjected. It had been his gentle reminder that Jack had a fondness for Peridot that had caused Daniel to pause over an otherwise anonymous loop of paperclips. Jack had a string in play currently in his office.

Daniel nodded, and rose to his feet. "Every reality but this one" he muttered, collecting the bag from the desk.

"What?" quizzed Jack.

"Nothing" Daniel extracted the crayon from the bag, and trotted down the stairs.

Samantha watched as Daniel entered the room. The little girl, Grace, turned to see the door and on Daniel's arrival leapt to her feet, pulling up the hospital top enough so that she could run to the door. Daniel dismissed the airman.

The child reached him just as the door closed, excitedly bellowing something that sounded like 'Uncle Daniel'. Daniel accepted her hand and led her back to the colouring table.


	12. Chapter 12

Grace

_by_ Aria

Chapter Twelve

Rating: Same as the show.

Disclaimer: I don't own them; if I did then I would be a hell of a lot richer. No one's paying me to write this, so I'm not making any profit from writing it. I'm just killing time.

Spoilers: Divide and Conquer, Beneath the Surface, Point of No Return, Tangent, Serpent's Venom, Grace, The other guys, Heroes.

Synopsis: Grace arrives through the Stargate, and it's not just Sam that can see her. Set a couple of months after Heroes, and Lost City.

Just in case anyone is still confused, I'm telling two stories that will eventually intertwine here. Even chapters are one story, odds are another. It'll become obvious quickly how they join.

-*-*-

She had thought long and hard about this. She had tossed and turned so much thinking about this that even Simmons had said that she looked a little tired. So this was why she was taking another look into the mirror in the women's locker room and debating whether to add another layer of concealer under her eyes.

She'd asked a passing leuitenant whether it was too much. She'd replied, "No, ma'am" in a way that initially Carter had found reassuring, but then wondered if it was merely a quick and polite fobbing off of a superior officer. If she'd asked if she looked pregnant in her BDUs with a mug perched on her bump, the same reply would probably have been forth coming.

At least under the mountain the lighting was all the same. She needn't worry about applying makeup under natural light because there'd be none of the pesky stuff to show up her flaws, her poorly blended lines wouldn't be more obvious under one fluorescent desk lamp rather than another.

Samantha Carter was stood in front of the largest mirror in the women's locker room wearing a black wrap around maternity dress with a deep neckline. Her swollen maternal breasts were placed into a supportive bra, and a hint of cleavage was visible above v of the neck. To point it out, she was wearing a gold necklace with a small horn pendant, her growing and thickening blonde hair sat just about her shoulders, blow dried - to look slightly messy - but still in place. She wore makeup. She didn't think it was enough to be too obvious, a dash of black eyeliner on top of her usual coral lipstick and mascara. Not too dissimilar to dress uniform choices, hopefully enough to turn half an eye. She was wearing heels – not too high, her fattening ankles wouldn't allow much, but enough to remind her with each step that she looked good.

One of the enlisted personnel had accidentally asked her if she was going out with 'daddy' tonight, earning a mixture of giggles and stunned silence from the other women in the room, depending on their knowledge of the SGC rumour mill.

She certainly wanted to impress him.

It was Friday. Daniel had held the party for Colonel O'Neill's birthday six nights ago, and she hadn't slept one of them. She'd made pro and con lists on paper before she momentarily lost one under a stack of reports and realised how horrible it would be if one made itself into the wrong hands. She'd toyed with opening a wormhole just to throw the scrap in and be sure no one would see it.

Pro – Keeping quiet that is – No pesky problems with fraternisation 'reg's. No one would question if she'd earnt her promotion last year.

Con – Jack O'Neill would never get the chance to be a father again. Well, perhaps not never, but certainly not with her.

Pro – Colonel O'Neill wouldn't be angry with her for hiding the truth, as he'd never know it.

Con – He would never know the truth, and thus continue believing she was pregnant with another man's child.

Pro – she wouldn't have to have this discussion.

She always found it difficult to think of a negative argument after that one was aired. Her father was right, Jack O'Neill had a right to know. After all they'd been through together, lying to him felt wrong and the idea that the product of them having been together was a very good reason why it couldn't happen again, tore her apart.

She knocked on his door.

"Come."

It wasn't that they'd been avoiding each other since the weekend, as much as she'd not been in his presence. She would have avoided him if it'd been awkward at some point when she'd seen him Monday, but that never happened, so she'd planned to avoid him if it was odd on Tuesday, but that never happened either. It was only after he'd let her in that she realised he could have been avoiding her.

It was too late now, she could hardly run – there wasn't a turn or open door down the corridor for twenty yards, and pregnant feet in heels would hardly help her make it unless her life depended on it.

The door was yanked open in front of her, and O'Neill probably looked as deer-in-the-headlights as she did at that moment. Eventually they found their voices. "Carter, you…do you want to come in?"

She nodded and he moved aside for her. Not far enough as her back and bottom slid against his side.

Jack O'Neill peered down the corridor in both directions as he shut the door. Whilst it wasn't directly true that he'd been avoiding his Major these last few days he hadn't found as many benign causes to trip down to her lab this last week and as such had realised about an hour ago that he hadn't been to her lab all week. He'd made the trip only to learn from Felger that she'd stepped out dead on five today and headed for the women's lockers. He assumed she was long gone and returned to his desk and yo-yo.

Even pregnant, Carter was still a soldier, and so when he shut his office door, he saw her stood at ease between the two chairs at angles in front of his desk. "Have a seat, Carter." He offered and she sat in the one furthest, and slightly facing the door, which had been cleared of paperwork by Daniel earlier in the day. A stack of paperwork half a metre high sat centrally on the next. Jack debated taking his desk chair, with wheels and a padded leather back, on the opposite side of the desk, but that would create a barrier between them. It would also affirm his sense of power and create a feeling of security, but Jack didn't think that would help Carter's mood, which was, at this point, unreadable. Instead he took a chunk of blue folders off the top, and in three piles moved the chair's contents onto his table, before slumping down opposite her. Their knees touched on one side.

"What can I do for you, Carter?" He finally begun, after what, to Sam at least, felt like an eternity.

No more 'Sam' she thought. Drawing conclusions from two instances was ridiculous, like a mathematician drawing 3 from 1 and 2 – she had to remind herself, and forged on with her semi-rehearsed conversation. "Sir, I lied to you, earlier in my pregnancy."

Jack O'Neill was a smart man. Depending on whether he wanted to, or not, he would draw the necessary conclusions from her single statement. He remained silent, and Samantha had to remind herself to count the seconds since she finished talking.

She saw a small smile appear on his lips before he banished it. His face remained straight for the remainder of the ten slow counts in her head. She searched for other indicators in his posture that she wasn't to continue. His hands were palm down on his thighs, his feet were flat on the floor, one slightly inside her leg where the chairs were closest. When her gaze rose to meet his face he was watching her similarly, and she found she needed to focus between his eyes to continue to speak. "The baby, it's…"

"Mine." He finished for her.

She nodded meekly and dropped her head at the end of the short motion. Somehow a 'yessir' didn't seem appropriate at that point.

They sat in silence. And Sam didn't count.

It felt like forever before Jack dropped his head into his hands and scratched at his salty head. Eventually Sam heard what she thought was a chuckle, and then he rose to his feet. He paced the room, around behind his desk and back to behind her chair, and then another circuit of the room. He plucked his yo-yo up from the shelf in his desk and after a single string caught it, and began to transfer it from hand to hand, feeling uncomfortable. His pace quickened, and to Sam it felt as though the tension in the room was mounting. She became irrationally scared of what he would say when he stopped pacing, how he would say it, being shouted at, threatened. She had to interrupt, to ask him something.

"You suspected?"

He was behind her, and she angled in her seat to see his face as he responded. "Yes, we did the necessary things, but then, No, because you've never lied to me." He scratched his face and ran his fingers through his hair again. For another second a smile spread across his lips. This one larger than before, but it was quickly banished. It was an absurd reaction, and Samantha wasn't sure how to react to him.

"You told me it wasn't mine." He leant over the back of his leather chair, hands still absently passing the yo-yo between them.

"I did, sir." It just slipped out. She felt like she was in trouble, rather than this being a conversation between two people who had, at one point been lovers – even if the physical and emotional side were separated.

Jack looked at her, exasperated. She hung her head again, a look of penance playing across her features. The tension grew and then abated in the silence that drew out between them.

"Carter…" a pause, "Sam…I'm gonna head up to my cabin this weekend. Clear my head. Even if I suspected, this is a surprise, and we should probably decide the best step forward now, whatever that may be, together."

Sam opened her mouth to speak, she was about to tell him she didn't need or want anything from him, not if he didn't want to be involved, but the statement died in her throat. He noted the motion and allowed her ample time to say what she wanted to say, before starting again. "I just have to ask, who else knows about this?"

Samantha rose to her feet. She was still at a stage where she could do so without relying on the arms of the chair, but the lightheaded, surreal sensation she had right now demanded their use. She placed faced him and placed her hands on the top of her bump, stroking gently. "My father"

"Jacob knows?" She nodded and he winced. He came to perch on the corner of his desk. "No one else?"

She shook her head and moved for the door handle.

"Sam," he called, as she felt fingers touch the edge of her limp hand. She turned to him, and the momentum allowed the fingers to scurry across her palm and gently hold her hand. She didn't try to extract hers, and Jack gently tugged her towards him.

It had felt like the appropriate moment to leave. Now, stood between his knees, holding hands, she felt ridiculously awkward, and her free hand flew to her bump to protect it. He released her hand and made a motion to touch her belly before pulling his hand away. He looked completely at her volleyball bump, eyes bulging with awe. "He? She?"

Sam was surprised. She suddenly realised that whilst questions about dates and the sex, pregnancy cravings and name suggestions had been freely flowing from Teal'C and Daniel as well as Janet, Harriman and other members of staff at the SGC, Jack O'Neill hadn't asked. The only comment he'd made was a few months ago, when he'd joked she might start to crave strange jello – an illusion to the red-blue war that had been a part of their relationship for the last few years.

She struggled not to give the same response to him that she gave everyone else, and felt guilty. "She, we think. They thought they could see something on a few scans, but the last few have definitely been girl. You know it's a negative finding, rather than a positive finding, so…" She trailed off when she realised he looked a little confused. "When the ultrasound tech says it's a boy its because they see a penis, where as with a girl…"

"They don't, but it could be the position of the baby's hand and…got it."

Sam smiled encouragingly.

"How many scans have you had?"

"It was weekly, at the beginning." Sam had been glad not to have had anyone accompany her to the early appointments, regular transvaginal ultrasounds with someone holding her hand? No thanks. "Now it's fortnightly. The obstetrician doesn't know about the Stargate or Jolinar, but knows I have some proteins with an uncertain effect on a baby. I think he thinks they're from chemical testing or something…" Jack nodded.

"Do you have pictures?" She nodded. "Can I see them?" She nodded again. "If I'm on earth, next time, could I come?" Sam nodded again. She found it hard to suppress the part of her that was doing back flips at the idea he would want to be involved with the child.

"Can I?" He raised a hand to touch her bump. Sam nodded, Jack placed his hand square top and centre, flattening the fingers out to maximise contact, even so, it wouldn't allow him to feel very much. She reminded herself Jack had had a pregnant wife before, so Sam knew this was awkwardness about them, and guided his hand south to find somewhere with a foot.

Her stomach was still. "Does she kick much?" Sam smiled and nodded.

"Apparently I was pretty docile, so that must be you." She ventured. They shared a grin, and their eyes met. "I'm sorry." She eventually admitted, her gaze dropping. He started as though to comfort her, but stopped. He reached a hand out, possibly to lift her chin, but stopped.

A soft push from inside was felt against his hand and his hand moved as though to pull away, but Sam held him still. "A little fidget before she moves." She muttered as explanation.

"Why did you…" His question was cut off as he felt a stronger pressure against his hand that rippled across his Sam's belly, through the soft material of her dress movements could gently be seen. "Wow!"

The movement stopped and the sense of amnesty between them faltered. Sam took a step back. "Right, I'd better get going if I want to be at the cabin before it gets too late."

She pursed her lips and nodded. "Have a good weekend, sir."

He didn't stop her. Sam didn't realise she hadn't exhaled until she was on the other side of the wall. She didn't feel she could breathe without them.


	13. Chapter 13

Grace

_by_ Aria

Chapter Thirteen

Rating: Same as the show.

Disclaimer: I don't own them; if I did then I would be a hell of a lot richer. No one's paying me to write this, so I'm not making any profit from writing it. I'm just killing time.

Spoilers: In the line of duty, Divide and Conquer, Beneath the Surface, Point of No Return, Tangent, Serpent's Venom, Grace, Heroes.

Synopsis: Grace arrives through the Stargate, and it's not just Sam that can see her. Set a couple of months after Heroes, and Lost City.

Just in case anyone is still confused, I'm telling two stories that will eventually intertwine here. Even chapters are one story, odds are another. It'll become obvious quickly how they join.

Thanks for the reviews so far.

-*-*-

Samantha Carter rapped the door to the guest quarters. The airmen outside the door had just informed her that Janet Fraser had accepted a plate of food only twenty minutes ago, and had expressed an interest in getting some sleep. Daniel had talked only briefly to Grace before Sam had left the room in search of her resurrected best friend. When the door didn't open immediately, she turned to leave.

"Sam."

"Hi," she greeted the diminutive red head. Janet was dressed in a white vest and military issue sport shorts, "Sorry, I didn't mean to wake you."

Janet vigorously shook her head, "Come in," she pulled the door open wider, "Have you finished with Gracie yet? Is she upset? I didn't want to leave her alone to be questioned, but Jack promised you'd be gentle with her."

Sam entered the room; the guest bed's covers were ruffled too much for Janet to have been awoken from sleep – more likely from tossing and turning. Janet closed the door and moved to sit at the head of the bed, cross legged, leaving ample space for Samantha to perch at the foot. "No, not yet, but don't worry, Daniel's talking to her now."

Janet nodded, "Her mother would kick my butt if anything happened to her."

Sam pursed her lips and nodded, "I'm sure I would, I haven't even been to see her yet, but I already feel attached to her."

Janet shook her head, evidently relieved, "Boy, am I glad he told you. I wanted to be the one to do it, but it was awkward enough, just telling Jack."

They shared a chuckle. "Told him, what, exactly? All I know is that Grace is our daughter."

Janet nodded, "Where do I begin, Sam? There must be so many differences between our two realities."

Sam shrugged, "I know, and when you've rested, you're going to have to tell one of us about it on tape, but for now…we were good friends in this reality. I don't know about yours, but I'd like my friend to tell me how I ended up having a daughter with my CO."

Janet laughed again. "We are in mine too, Sam. Alright – I'll tell you all about Gracie, and you can tell me about how I died?" She extended a hand.

"Deal," Sam shook it and swung her legs round to mirror her friend's on the bed.

They had already settled into easy companionship. Janet had evidently been through something, otherwise how and why would she have fled her own reality, but sat opposite her, Samantha felt the familiar warmth emanating from the familiar form.

"I guess the best way to tell the story is how it appeared from my point of view. You kept certain details to yourself, obviously," they shared a giggle, "and some things you hid from all of us, Sam."

Janet squeezed her hand and leaned in, "I confirmed your pregnancy around two months and arranged for you to see the best obstetrician I had heard of. We asked the Tok'Ra and the Jaffa for information and arranged for you to have frequent scans and blood work. I probed you for more information about the father, but you were very cryptic. You said that it was someone you knew well, but that things had changed between you since and you weren't planning to tell him about the child."

Sam looked awkward, "So, we weren't together when I got pregnant? Was I military?"

"When you got pregnant you asked the General not to send you off world, and so you became the queen of the lab at the SGC. In many ways you were very happy, but you missed the guys terribly. On the plus side, Cassie and I saw more of you.

Oh, god! Cassie, how is she here?!" Janet suddenly seemed alarmed.

Sam smiled at her, "She's good, she took it badly when you died, but she's at college in California now. I haven't contacted her. The general told me only an hour ago that you were staying."

"I've tried so hard not to let myself think about everyone back home. I can't wait to speak to her. I'll be allowed to contact her, won't I?"

Sam shrugged, "I can't see any reason why not. She's been keeping bigger secrets than this for a long time. She'll be so happy to see you, Janet."

Janet wiped away a few fresh tears. Sam reflected it must have been the oddest mixture of emotions Janet must be feeling. Sorrow for those she's lost and joy at the new acquaintances. Bittersweet, Janet began to smile again. "The General? So you two aren't?"

Sam fiercely shook her head. "Oh no, in fact, I'm engaged to Pete Shanahan. He's a cop, my brother set us up. He knows about the programme and …" she trailed off. "But that's another conversation; I'm reeling from the arrival of my 'daughter', Janet."

Janet was surprised. This reality was so very similar, but yet so different to her own. The topic of Sam's fiancé was dismissed as quickly as it was brought up. In her own reality, Janet remembered Sam's reaction to Jack showing interest in her when it was finally revealed that Sam's daughter was his. Her Samantha Carter had turned into a schoolgirl.


	14. Chapter 14

Grace

_by_ Aria

Chapter Fourteen

Rating: Same as the show.

Disclaimer: I don't own them; if I did then I would be a hell of a lot richer. No one's paying me to write this, so I'm not making any profit from writing it. I'm just killing time.

Spoilers: Divide and Conquer, Beneath the Surface, Point of No Return, Tangent, Serpent's Venom, Grace, The other guys, Heroes.

Synopsis: Grace arrives through the Stargate, and it's not just Sam that can see her. Set a couple of months after Heroes, and Lost City.

Just in case anyone is still confused, I'm telling two stories that will eventually intertwine here. Even chapters are one story, odds are another. It'll become obvious quickly how they join.

-*-*-

Jack O'Neill swirled the Jameson's around in its shot glass and admired what a small volume of Irish whisky could and couldn't do for his mood.

When he'd left the base elevators he'd stood tapping his keys on his thighs in the parking lot. He had a few supplies in the cab of his truck, he could've driven up to the cabin if he'd wanted, perhaps augmented his options by stopping at a market on the way for some basics, bread, meat, beer, but decided against it.

He needed time and space to think. He wouldn't realise until the following morning that a bar probably wasn't the best location for either, he never realised.

Samantha Carter, his second in command; quite possibly the smartest person on the planet, and she was beautiful air force officer who worked with him every day. Blonde hair, blue eyes, could hold her own in a fire fight or in hand to hand. She actually seemed to find his jokes funny.

There was something between them; they'd admitted it under the duress of an alien truth test under penalty of long term sedation. They'd limited themselves to both stating that they cared about each other more than they were 'supposed to' which meant that Doc Frasier and Anise were later able to report to General Hammond in a manner that didn't threaten either of their careers.

He'd kissed her once during a time loop and he'd done it properly, resigned first and then dipped her to the floor. What was the point in making her feel like it was just because they could get away with it? He wanted the kiss to be one to remember, and it was. He smiled, even now.

The night they'd shared together was more of a blurry memory than he'd like. They'd clearly been building a relationship, and he'd been similarly diplomatic in stating in his report how close they'd become. Thera had started it. He remembered that. One kiss from her and they'd quickly discarded their terracotta robes and made a bed in the corner of one of the engineering sections. Afterwards there had been no time to revel in their newfound proximity either, they'd dressed quickly with smiles and gentle touches and walked together back to their bunks. Jonah had planned to woo her for a little longer before even trying to kiss her; he never imagined things would be so easy between them. Perhaps a reflection of their years of tension?

Sam had told him that she was having a baby nearly six months ago. Initially it had felt like a blow to the chin to be told that not only was Samantha not 'his' but she was so not 'his' that she was having another man's child.

Why had she lied to him about the child?

He felt a mixture of sorrow and joy when he recall his first reactions – he thought the attachment to this unidentified male must have been great for her to be willing to give up field work to have his children. Did that theory hold true now? With his new knowledge?

He'd been angry when he'd learnt via General Hammond that she seemed to be planning to care for the child alone. It had been confirmed by Daniel, Teal'C and Doctor Frasier, and he'd felt a need to act in someway. Daniel had pointed out he had no role, Sam had never told them anything about dates or boyfriends, and they'd all assumed it was because she worked too hard to have any, then he wondered if she was just very good at keeping her work and private life divided. They'd all felt like they were poor friends, with hindsight Sam had been keeping an even bigger secret.

He'd tried his best to get past her predicament; the new scientists had provided him with entertainment and usually much more exercise on missions. He was surprised to see just how geeky the majority of the scientific community was, even when you made them run for their lives on a daily basis.

He'd only realised that what he was feeling was heart break when he found himself spending an evening in this very bar talking to a woman he didn't find attractive, he didn't find interesting and he didn't think was particularly bright either, but he'd gone to hers after the bar closed anyway. The next day he felt like crap.

There was more flirtation but less promiscuity in the months that followed, almost like deliberate self harm to deal with the pain. He eventually realised that he wasn't yet ready to meet a woman who could replace her spot in his heart, and stopped trying.

A gust of wind reminded him that the bar's only other patron had just left.

He'd found himself visiting Carter's lab and asking about random artefacts and doohickeys. He started to call her Sam more often, and felt worse for it. Eventually he was visiting to ask about the random items procured on other missions. Sam keenly informed him on all matters scientific, sharing her theories with him as though he understood more than 10% of what she said. When he drew a blank face or looked confused she smiled at him brightly and simplified things.

He felt like more of an idiot on days when he saw her.

Kaitlin Turner was probably the only genuine female relationship he had, other than with her. She was also smart, about space bugs, plants and goo though, she didn't understand anything to do with worm holes. She was slender and tall, not particularly strong, but a decent shot. She had long hair and warm brown eyes. She was one of very few reservists at the SGC, approached because of her brains and as such she was less formal with the team outside of the briefing room.

Jack had tried to get to know her more, perhaps form an attachment to her, but all he'd done was discover all the little ways that she wasn't Samantha Carter.

The barmaid looked up at him as he began to chuckle. He couldn't believe that he'd actually wished the child to be his. After seeing the strange reaction Carter had had to his flirtation with Kaitlin at the party last week he'd just thought it whilst blowing out his candles. Their heated discussion had played heavily on his mind at the moment when he'd been offered the sheet cake.

He downed the last half of the short and reached into his pocket. The question of why Sam had told him the child wasn't his still weighed heavily on his mind. The barmaid wandered over, "I'd offer you another, but I'm about to close up."

Jack shook his head, "No, I think I'll settle up anyway." He dropped a number of bills on the counter top and pulled out his car keys as he pocketed his wallet again.

"Woah, where do you think you're going?" asked the barmaid, smiling warmly at him as she tugged on his keys. "I don't think you're good to drive."

Jack glanced down at the volume of money he'd placed on the bar. It was midnight. He'd been here since eight or so. There was no chance, even with watching the game, playing a rack of pool and chatting to the odd woman at the bar that he'd drunk any less than thrice the legal limit, definitely not if it had cost as much as he'd given her.

Jack shrugged.

"I'll call you a cab, where're you going?"

Jack spouted off his address, repocketing his keys. She collected the phone from the back wall of the bar and lifted the receiver. Then his curiosity got the better of him again, and without really thinking about it as much as he should have, he stopped the waitress mid-dial.


	15. Chapter 15

Grace

_by_ Aria

Chapter Fifteen

Rating: Same as the show.

Disclaimer: I don't own them; if I did then I would be a hell of a lot richer. No one's paying me to write this, so I'm not making any profit from writing it. I'm just killing time.

Spoilers: In the line of duty, Divide and Conquer, Beneath the Surface, Point of No Return, Tangent, Serpent's Venom, Grace, Heroes.

Synopsis: Grace arrives through the Stargate, and it's not just Sam that can see her. Set a couple of months after Heroes, and Lost City.

Just in case anyone is still confused, I'm telling two stories that will eventually intertwine here. Even chapters are one story, odds are another. It'll become obvious quickly how they join.

Thanks for the reviews so far.

-*-*-

Grace's power over Daniel during the interrogation appeared to stem from the fact that Daniel didn't truly believe this little girl had any information. Otherwise there was no reason for Daniel to allow her to engage him in simple games. When she announced she was tired and wanted a story, Jack's curiosity got the better of him, and he called Daniel over the microphone. At the mention of his name, he apologised to Grace and came to corridor.

Jack closed the door of the observation gallery behind him in a deliberate move. "I think I'll take it from here, Daniel." He said to the archaeologist, who corrected his glasses and trotted off down the corridor.

The guard swiped him into the room and Jack re-entered. Obviously expecting Daniel, Grace exhibited a bright smile and then her lower lip began to quiver. She fixed Jack in her sights, and observed his gradual approach from the door.

"Hello Grace," Jack slowly moved towards the scared looking child, and sat on a low plastic chair next to her at the colouring table. "Aren't you going to say anything?"

She stood up from the table and began to sniffle. Jack admired her reserve, something no child so small should have really had.

After an indeterminate silence, he turned his attention to her drawing. "This is pretty, Grace, you've drawn your family here." Jack wondered how to proceed. How to identify the caricatures in the image, him or me? Sam or Sam… Jack had been confronted by a number of alien children in his time with the Stargate programme, but never one who was his. He felt an attachment to this bundle of blonde, tearful curls.

The next sniffle was from right by his side.

"So this is you, and your mommy and your daddy." He identified them from the sizes and hair colour. He was surprised that she had depicted Sam in a skirt, he idly wondered if that was due to gender stereotyping or if her mother really did wear skirts a lot. Except being Jack he didn't wonder in that language, at least not if anyone asked.

"And it looks like you're at the cabin, in Minnesota." There was a fishing rod and some fish in a pond to one side of the painting, and clear blue skies.

Grace nodded in the corner of his vision, and he placed and arm around her, tugging her onto his lap in the short chair. "I'm not quite your Daddy, Grace." She nodded, sniffing some more. "But I'd like to take care of you." She nodded again, and let herself lean her head into his chest.

Eventually a loud sob rang out and he wrapped the other arm around her, whispering soft encouragements. She blubbered for two or three minutes before she seemed exhausted. After some clumsy wiping at her face he pulled her so he could wipe for her. He dried his hands on his BDUs as she cuddled deeper into him. Jack felt his awe for the little girl grow as she settled against him. She mumbled something.

"Sorry, Grace, I didn't hear that."

"You said that it didn't matter what was different, that you and mommy would love me anyway." Jack smiled. The little girl was so sure of herself, of the wisdom of her father. Jack had to laugh. He'd forgotten what that meant. To be a father, so respected, worshipped, General was one thing, but he'd been a father once.

"You're right, Grace." He said after a very brief period of thought. He lifted her as he stood, his knees rejecting the short table. "Just give me a bit of time to get used to it."

He sat with Grace in her bed until she fell asleep.


	16. Chapter 16

Grace

_by_ Aria

Chapter Sixteen

Rating: Same as the show.

Disclaimer: I don't own them; if I did then I would be a hell of a lot richer. No one's paying me to write this, so I'm not making any profit from writing it. I'm just killing time.

Spoilers: In the line of duty, Divide and Conquer, Beneath the Surface, Point of No Return, Tangent, Serpent's Venom, Grace, The Other Guys and Heroes.

Synopsis: Grace arrives through the Stargate, and it's not just Sam that can see her. Set a couple of months after Heroes, and Lost City.

Just in case anyone is still confused, I'm telling two stories that will eventually intertwine here. Even chapters are one story, odds are another. It'll become obvious quickly how they join.

Thanks for the reviews so far.

-*-*-

Samantha Carter was laid slightly on her side in bed, staring up at the ceiling. She'd gone to bed nearly two hours ago now, but sleep had yet to come.

Her mind was racing. She was at once so excited and so terrified. She imagined Colonel O'Neill getting back from his weekend away keen to help with the child, but then she envisaged herself, him, or both being court-martialled for engaging in the relationship. She felt sick at the idea that he wouldn't want anything to do with her when he returned, and her looking for reassignment at Area 51, the Pentagon or civilian sector. Then there was a middle ground that looked even worse to her – Jack O'Neill helping with the child almost as though they'd divorced. Weekends, some holidays, moving on with his life and picking their daughter up from her house with a new girlfriend, wife or even other children. She saw herself babysitting when he took out Kaitlin Turner on dates, and herself trying desperately to forget whatever she had felt for him before. Perhaps she would move on herself – at least Mark had some ideas for her.

The light playing through the curtain amplified as she heard a car pull up outside, someone got out and deep masculine voices discussed something in the street before footsteps sounded on pavement.

The last thing she expected was a knock on her door, a bang on her door, someone thumping the wooden door with gusto, and then the shouting started. "Carter!" Her surname over and over, she jumped to her feet and grabbed her discarded jumper.

She recognised the voice, and for whatever reason he'd arrived at her house, he didn't sound to be in the mood to happily go away.

Jack O'Neill tumbled when Samantha Carter opened her front door, gathering himself before he landed on his pregnant 2IC or her welcome mat. "What are you doing here?" She whispered angrily, widening the doorway to let him in. She was wearing a silky cream vest and drawstring trousers, which she'd pulled a black woollen housecoat over the top of, her belly supported the shirt, and there was an expanse of pale flesh visible before the trousers started.

Sam caught a whiff of alcohol as he walked past her, so she bolted the door and led him into the kitchenette, selecting a glass and filling it with water for him whilst she waited for a reply.

Jack O'Neill was caught by surprise, storming over to Carter's to demand an explanation was one thing, doing it when she was heavily pregnant and doe eyed from sleep was a bit rude. That wasn't the Jack O'Neill cavalier attitude he was used to, so he summoned his anger again. "You lied to me." He eventually growled.

Samantha Carter placed the water on the work surface, within his reach and pulled her cardigan tight around the remains of her waist. She felt exposed briefly, in her pyjamas, without the armour she'd donned this afternoon. With the cardigan at least covering for her lack of bra, she folded her arms across her body. "I did."

"You told me specifically that this wasn't my baby."

"I did."

"Why?" He was shouting again now, infuriated by Samantha's simple, low volume reply. This was important, damn it.

Carter was startled, she frowned. "What do you mean 'why'?"

"What were you doing, Carter, trying to avoid the frat regs? Trying to protect your career? What was so important that it was worth selfishly commandeering the life of an innocent child?" Jack O'Neill slammed a fist down on the counter top. His breathing was laboured.

Samantha Carter didn't feel scared; she felt a strange sense of excitement at the idea that he was so keen to be involved. Then suddenly she felt apologetic. "Because it's not yours."

Jack took a step back and shook his head. "What?"

"Biologically, I guess, but…" Sam was stuck, confusion and anger were vying for a space on Jack's face, and she wasn't sure which she preferred right now. "Jonah and Thera conceived this child, you and I would never…for the reasons you just mentioned, we'd never have done what they did." She finished quietly.

Jack O'Neill laughed outloud. "You've gone wacko, Carter!"

It was the worst possible moment for Pete to stumble into the kitchen. "What's going on here?" He asked, after a moment or so of silence.

Jack glanced at the man to his side and then looked back at Sam. His eyes conveyed a sense of betrayal, and Sam knew she had seconds before she lost him. "Pete, can you give us a minute."

Pete shook his head. "You sure you're alright?" He asked.

"It's okay," Jack started, "I'm leaving." He turned and walked towards the door.

"Pete, please, just go back to bed, give us some privacy." Sam pleaded and jogged to catch up with Jack. She caught his arm and tugged him into her dining room, sliding the door shut behind them. Hopefully that would give them an additional layer of sound proofing from the sleeping occupants of the house.

Pete was a friend of her brother's, a cop, who'd been in town for a case. They'd gone for dinner before collecting Mark from the airport. Over the weekend they were going to paint one of the guest rooms, and Mark and Pete were going to use the house as a base for a catch up weekend. Sam hadn't realised until Mark had asked about it that the dinner was a set up. They probably would have hit it off if she hadn't been so preoccupied with her earlier conversation with Jack O'Neill.

Sam pressed her back to the sliding door, giving Jack space to pace the room. She flicked on a table lamp. "It's not what you think…" so clichéd. In reality it was almost what he thought.

The fuzzy alcohol feeling was wearing off. When he'd turned up at her house he'd been buoyant in the knowledge that Sam was carrying his child, and in the idea that she might welcome him having some role in her life, to meet a sleepy man in her house at one am was not what he expected, not after what he'd just been thinking. "You act like Jonah and Thera just fell into bed, they cared for each other…and you started it." He waggled a finger at her, tension built with each step, until he came to a stop right in front of her, but yet couldn't meet her eyes "and I…I said your name, when we, when I …came….I said Samantha." His last few words he summoned the courage and transfixed her with a gaze that made last week's look look like a Bunsen burner. This was a supernova of passion.

Even in the faint light, her surprise was obvious. "To think, I was worried you'd heard me, now I'm, I don't know, upset, that you didn't notice." He continued, stepping away from her.

"Carter, I don't have any say in your personal life. I'm your CO. I shouldn't have pushed my way in here at God knows what time of the night. I should go." Resignation, in his voice, in his face. He put a hand on the door above her shoulder, hoping his agitation would cause her to move aside and let him leave.

Samantha Carter felt the sass that she'd inherited from her father rear its head. Nervously, she chuckled, "You were right, we're both wacko." She looked up at him, the lamp created a shadow on one side of her face. She relaxed her arms – behind her now, instead of creating a barrier in front. "It's late, you're drunk. You can't get home. Stay with me tonight." She turned and slid the door open.

Pete was still in the kitchen. She'd blown any chance with him anyway. "I've got guests in the other rooms. You'll have to stay in my bed." She spoke quietly, but she was sure both Pete and Jack heard.

They turned in front of the kitchen area as Jack growled "Don't you think we're a little old for sleepovers, Sam?" Jack smirked at Pete, who, if anyone had offered a passing glance, looked royally pissed off.

"I do." She replied to him, opening her bedroom door. In the same breath she called down the corridor. "Goodnight, Pete."


	17. Chapter 17

Grace

_by_ Aria

Chapter Seventeen

Rating: Same as the show.

Disclaimer: I don't own them; if I did then I would be a hell of a lot richer. No one's paying me to write this, so I'm not making any profit from writing it. I'm just killing time.

Spoilers: In the line of duty, Divide and Conquer, Beneath the Surface, Point of No Return, Tangent, Serpent's Venom, Grace, The Other Guys, Heroes.

Synopsis: Grace arrives through the Stargate, and it's not just Sam that can see her. Set a couple of months after Heroes, and Lost City.

Just in case anyone is still confused, I'm telling two stories that will eventually intertwine here. Even chapters are one story, odds are another. It'll become obvious quickly how they join.

Thanks for the reviews so far.

-*-*-

Samantha Carter bit into the muffin that Teal'C had brought from her from the commissary. "I have come to visit the young one." He stated.

Sam, unable to meet his eye, had looked down through the viewport to the small child colouring below. "Would you like to join me Samantha Carter?"

Sam looked up at him apologetically. "Not this time Teal'C." She replied, and pressed a few more keys on her notebook. Teal'C bowed his head and walked down the stairs towards the isolation room.

No one needed to say anything, but Samantha Carter knew that the people on base who knew this was her child thought it was strange that in the 48 hours that the visitors from the alternate reality had been on base, Sam had spent her time in the observation room, or with Dr Frasier in her quarters. She had slept on base, but her lab had been empty almost entirely. Daniel hadn't even dare broach the subject - that she whilst she wasn't strictly avoiding meeting her 'daughter' she was pretty much just sat in the observation room, with the window switched to mirror mode, and watching a small child continue with her life.

Grace was beautiful, a well fed four year old with a perfect pair of brown eyes and a set of golden curls. Whilst her drawings were pretty standard for a child her age her vocabulary was excellent, and when Sam had arranged for various toys to be brought in she saw Grace building towers and demonstrating other fine motor and imagination skills suitable for children twice her age.

Whilst there had been a degree of scientific curiosity about her introduction of the Waters set, Sam would have been angry if anyone were to suggest she was assessing the child prior to taking her on. She was, in fact, already attached and she was terrified.

Below her, Teal'C entered the isolation room, which had already been decorated with a number of drawings. He was immediately noticed by the small child. Neither of them said anything. Grace walked towards the Jaffa, eventually craning her neck so much Sam was sure she would topple backwards. She held out her arms and wordlessly, Teal'C lifted her.

Once sat on the friendly giant's shoulders she began to giggle and Teal'C began to dance, moving her briskly from side to side and up and down, she wrapped her arms around his bald head, using his gold tattoo to gain purchase. She clearly loved it, and Teal'C had obviously done this with children before.

Sam smiled, covering her face. Why was she so petrified of meeting this little one?

Sam couldn't pinpoint what it was she was so concerned about. She was never one to shy from a fight, but something so unknown deserved careful consideration. Was she worried about the child not liking her? What she concerned that she wouldn't be able to teach her correct morals and polite behaviour? Perhaps she thought Grace wouldn't accept her as a replacement for her mother, how much should she even expect to replace an alternate Samantha Carter? Should they be the same in Grace's eyes?

So many 'what ifs'! Samantha had always been the one to point out all scenarios. She wondered if her alternate had had so many similar questions when she was pregnant.

Eventually Teal'C departed with a huge grin and a wet kiss on his cheek. General O'Neill arrived. Somehow the General had managed to be in the isolation room for each of the naps and bedtimes since Grace arrived. He read to her from Dr Seuss and Rudyard Kipling until she slept and then flicked through a few more pages until she seemed settled. Then, knowing Sam or occasionally another airman was watching through the glass wall, he left again, back to work.

Sam had no reason to expect him to come in and see her after sending Grace off to sleep, but her pulse still quickened when he exited the isolation room. Eventually her notes on her computer lost their appeal and Samantha succumbed to sleep, dropping her head into her arms.

She awoke with a startle some hours later. In the isolation room below her there was screaming and wailing. "Mommy, mommy" Grace called out, evidently deep in a nightmare from the cot in the middle of the room. In the dim night light that O'Neill had left her with, Sam could make out tears on the child's face. She tossed and turned in the bed and called out in such distress that Sam wanted to cry herself.

A few deep swallows later Samantha was experiencing a sensation of intense panic. She knew that if Grace awoke in REM sleep she was more likely to remember her dream than not, but part of her was desperate to wake her and comfort her. She then felt a tingling from her toes to her earlobes – something her sister in law had described that she also felt when her babies cried. Maybe she could comfort Grace in her sleep, without waking her.

Sam pressed her hands to her face, mopping up the sheen that had developed on her eyes and walked down the stairs. The airman was ill prepared to swipe her into the isolation room, and took a moment to collect his card to do so, Sam could barely contain her anger at such a minor inconvenience.

As soon as the door began to move Grace called her from within. Sam rushed towards the centre bed and was grateful when the door closed again, as all the urgency she had felt previously dissipated. What the hell was she supposed to do?

Samantha Carter stood mutely in the middle of the room by the side of the isolation bed, suddenly filled with fear that the child would wake. She watched her daughter wriggling in her sleep and willed the soft tears and whimpering to die down.

Eventually Grace's movements calmed and her whimpers lost their volume. The tears on her face began to dry and the tension in her body eased, eventually her face relaxed into a soft smile. Sam felt like she exhaled for the first time in minutes. She moved to the reflective windows that she'd been watching from and noticed how dark and unnerving it was to gaze up at them. She moved quietly, swallowed slowly, fearful she might wake the tiny soldier.


	18. Chapter 18

Grace

by Aria

Chapter Eighteen

Rating: Same as the show.

Disclaimer: I don't own them; if I did then I would be a hell of a lot richer. No one's paying me to write this, so I'm not making any profit from writing it. I'm just killing time.

Spoilers: In the line of duty, Divide and Conquer, Beneath the Surface, Point of No Return, Tangent, Serpent's Venom, Grace, The Other Guys, Heroes.

Synopsis: Grace arrives through the Stargate, and it's not just Sam that can see her. Set a couple of months after Heroes, and Lost City.

-*-*-

Jack O'Neill was aware that he wasn't in his own bed long before he awoke from his drunken slumber. Although in his semiconscious state he detected no signs of hostility, there was something that just wasn't right. He'd slept well, and his back wasn't protesting. There was a clean and softly feminine smell in his proximity, and a sensation that all this...padding...was slightly softer than normal. His head pounded, and his brain retreated to sleep a few times before he eventually awoke with the uneasy sensation of being watched.

Just when he was sure he'd perfected the face of someone who was not just pretending to be asleep a voice rose from somewhere a little distance away. "Hey"

A female voice, all too familiar, Carter's voice, and Jack spent a few moments wracking his memory for clues as to the events of the previous evening. When too much time passed, the voice prodded again. "Good morning?"

Jack O'Neill chanced the opening of a single eye. A cream ceiling, gently bathed in light overspilling the top of a curtain greeted him, so he opened the other. He was partially on his side, looking towards the window of what he was fairly certain was his 2IC's bedroom.

The voice he localised to his right side, and gradually shuffled himself to face. His second hand reached under the covers to double check for the presence of boxers. He wore the pale khaki tshirt he'd worn to the base the previous day on his top.

Samantha Carter was sat on an armchair a few feet from the side of the bed. She wore silky pyjama bottom and a black top wrapped around her chest and upper belly. She looked sleepy, her mid-length hair voluminous and disheveled, and clutched a mug in her hands as she leant towards him.

"Morning," Jack eventually grumbled, he pulled himself up to sit as memories came flashing back to him, drinking his way into some heavy thinking at a bar and then catching a cab to his second's flat.

She was carrying his child.

Samantha regarded him with pursed lips, confused what to say. "I went off coffee during my morning sickness, I made you a cup of tea." She nodded to the side table, and Jack made a swipe for the fluid. He hadn't recognised the characteristic smell of coffee designed to fight a hangover, the kind of stuff you could stand a spoon in if you tried. The tea had cooled slightly, and partially to give himself more time, he drunk the cup in one.

The fluid volume would help what he was sure would be a decent hangover, and after he swallowed he muttered a 'thanks' before letting his head flop against the headboard. He remembered a man in Carter's apartment, territorial in the kitchen.

"There was a man here..."

Bright and sober though she was, Samantha Carter had still taken a few moments to recollect her thoughts on awakening to find her CO in her bed this morning. If it weren't for his alcohol she was sure she would not have escaped the bedroom unnoticed. She'd been sat in the kitchen until one of her house guests had crossed the hall for the guest bathroom, and then, for fear she'd have to confront Pete alone, she'd made two teas and snuck back to bed. She hadn't suspected Jack O'Neill's initial confusion might have persisted a little longer than her own, nor did it occur to her that he might too need an hour alone to think. "Pete, a friend of my brother's."

Jack nodded quietly and took another sip from the empty mug before meeting her eyes. "I shouldn't have barged over in the middle of the night. You'll have a lot of explaining to do."

Sam scowled. What about what he'd said last night? She had to elaborate, tell him she wasn't taken, without being obvious that she was still his. "My brother and Pete are here for the weekend, helping paint a room in exchange for a few nights' accommodation."

Jack O'Neill waggled his eyebrows at her, "Your brother's here? So I've scored the Carter trifecta?"

Sam smiled and then looked awkwardly down at her mug. She didn't quite know what she'd expected from him this morning, but the jealousy he'd exhibited last night and again this morning had left her with a feeling of hope and bouyancy. She was worried it would disappear too quickly. A hand went to her stomach, protective of the child.

"So..."

"So..."

Neither was sure who spoke first. They grinned at each other. It broke the ice between them.

"I didn't tell you about the baby because..."

"It's done now."

Another pause. "Actually, why?"

Carter forcefully exhaled and looked to the ceiling for guidance, eventually she met his eyes. "I wanted to protect you. I didn't do it because of any thoughts about what you might want or need. I didn't want you to feel you had to play a role or do anything you didn't want to. I didn't want to force you to be a father again because I wouldn't have an abortion. I didn't know how you...viewed...that...night" She shrugged. There were many unfounded, unconsidered thoughts in her head, this seemed as good a point as any to stop talking.

Jack nodded, very slowly. "You considered an abortion?" He asked quietly.

Carter nodded, "I'm an unmarried woman with little social support whose job description includes 'to save the world'."

They shared a smirk.

"For what it's worth, Carter, I'm glad you didn't...have an abortion, I mean."

Sam allowed herself a genuine smile, first at semi-supine Jack, and then down at her 'bump' which she rubbed gently. "Yes, sir." She muttered.

The image of sleepy Carter stroking her belly with a contented expression on her face captured Jack for a moment before he realised her use of his salutation. "Carter, we're having a baby together. I shared a bed with you last night, you're really going to call me 'sir'?"

"Carter?" she teased in response.

"Guess not." Jack felt the tension rebuild in his body. This was very new territory. He tried out the word silently in his head, before sounding it aloud. "Samantha,"

"Jack" She returned, half expecting to be admonished. "So what do we do now?"

"Ah, well." Jack yawned broadly, "I think I should get dressed and probably get out of your hair. We should meet up sometime to discuss what we're going to do."

Sam nodded.

"Off base."

She nodded again.

"Sober and fully clothed."

A chuckle. Finally things felt a little easier. "Breakfast first, my guests are up. I'll drop you off at your car then." Samantha pressed her hands on her knees and pushed herself up. She toppled forward a little from the momentum. Jack rose a little from the bed and reached out to catch her. She steadied herself at the same time.

His hand caught her forearms. One in each hand, soft skin against bare, calloused forearms. They both paused to look at the contact and it took Jack a second to realise that they both felt uncomfortable. "Do you want a shower? You smell like booze."

"That'd be great. I feel like a cactus."

Jack swung his legs out of the bed, much to the protest of his head, and was ready to rise to his feet when he realised that Sam was still stood in his path. "Uh, Carter?"

Sam sank down on the bed next to him, and Jack began to feel very naked. "I might wait here...it'll be awkward, facing them."

Jack remembered the man in the corridor again, her brother visiting, the jealousy rose up again and for a moment he was puzzled as to what Sam's concerns might have been then. "Okay...I'll just take my clothes," He knelt down and collected socks and shoes from the floor by her previous chair. His jeans, jumper and jacket were slung over the back. For a moment he glanced at Samantha and wondered what it would be like to have left his clothes here under different circumstances. When she noted his gaze Jack turned for her ensuite, worried she could read his face.


	19. Chapter 19

Grace

by Aria

Chapter Nineteen

Rating: Same as the show.

Disclaimer: I don't own them; if I did then I would be a hell of a lot richer. No one's paying me to write this, so I'm not making any profit from writing it. I'm just killing time.

Spoilers: In the line of duty, Divide and Conquer, Beneath the Surface, Point of No Return, Tangent, Serpent's Venom, Grace, The Other Guys, Heroes.

Synopsis: Grace arrives through the Stargate, and it's not just Sam that can see her. Set a couple of months after Heroes, and Lost City.

-*-*-

Jack O'Neill perched on the stool in Carter's lab with her yo-yo in hand. His present to her, knowingly for him to play with in her lab so that he didn't play with anything else - important.

At that moment there wasn't anything important in her lab. The centre console counter top was empty. Carter's laptop was missing, and any other paraphernalia to indicate that this belonged to the brainiest scientist at the SGC was gone. Even the flowers on a countertop to the side of the room had died, unwatered for, Jack presumed, just under a week.

The yo-yo normally lived in the drawer under where her laptop was sat, and would appear suddenly on the desk a short period after he entered the room. He'd taken less than a minute to locate it once he started looking.

He was less sure about the owner of the yo-yo, and the lab, joining him shortly. The MPs had alerted him when Carter had passed the gates, and he'd made his way to his 2IC's quarters before realising that it seemed a little inappropriate to wait for a woman outside her bedroom.

Doctor Fraiser's test results had confirmed she was who she said she was, and Grace's bloods had indeed shown that she was who Janet had explained as well. Jack wasn't sure why he was surprised with the test results, the SGC was a circus at the best of times. After the report, compiled by Dr Werner, was placed on his desk he'd gone to the isolation room and spent a while stood at ease, looking down on the little girl in the room below. He'd had to stop the junior officer from swiping him in. Right now he needed to collect his thoughts. Now he felt fairly decided.

Samantha Carter's arrival interrupted him from his reverie. "Sir!" She was startled to find him alone in her lab, sat in the light from the corridor, slowly rocking their yo-yo.

"Carter," she was dressed in jeans and a loose dark T-shirt. She'd not expected to meet anyone around the base for a few hours, and figured she'd head to her lab quickly and then sleep in her quarters until six.

She slowly placed her belongings down on the centre console, "Is there anything I can do for you, sir?"

Jack smirked, how could she be so coy, when they clearly had matters to discuss? He pushed two manilla folders across the desk in front of her. She cautiously opened the top folder. "She's Doctor Fraiser." He said, as Carter lifted the report out and found the test results, interpreting them for herself. He paused until her breath caught, and she quickly discarded Janet's results for the second set. "And the paternity test shows she is our child."

Samantha didn't bother to correct him, but took in row after row of probability matches. Each one she approached with a sense of longing, but also of fear. Three pages of sequences later she reached the concluding line. 'High probability (P=0.001) of familial link with Carter, Lieutenant-Colonel Samantha and O'Neill, Brigadier General Jonathan'

Samantha felt he knees dropping from under her, and languidly moved herself onto one of the stools. She could see her life crashing around her, Pete and her marrying and having a family, having some space from her work, her team mates, it all disappeared in a rush of blood to her ears. She wasn't sure whether she was elated or upset. She was terrified. She opened her mouth to speak twice before she finally uttered "What now?"

Jack O'Neill was fairly sure he'd never seen his second so confused. She had a deer in the head lights look to her that he was sure was similar to his own expression a few hours ago. Luckily he'd had time to think. "I'm not sure, Carter. I guess it depends on whether you want to get to know your daughter."

Jack O'Neill felt a mixture of anger and annoyance when she didn't immediately reply. She looked awkwardly down at her hands and wrung them on the desk top. He summoned his patience. "It'd be understandable if you didn't, you're not her mother, you've got a ... life ..." he didn't mention Pete, he found himself more comfortable directing the anger towards her boyfriend than where he knew it belonged. "Raising a child is a big deal and shouldn't be entered into unless it's wanted."

Samantha felt like she suddenly woke up, "I do, I want to, it's just..." She paused, hoping for a fluent way to state her current conundrum.

"Huge." Jack said.

They met each other's gaze and Jack felt a sense of relief when she nodded. "I've always wanted children, I just assumed that one day it would happen."

Jack wished she hadn't continued when she looked back at Grace's test results and added "but never did I want it to be like this."

Jack placed the yo-yo down on the desk and rose to standing. "Daniel and Teal'C say you've not been in to see her yet."

She shook her head, embarrassed. "I don't know how to treat her, I don't think it comes as naturally to me as..." 'to anyone else' she thought.

"We'll have breakfast together, in the iso room, at 0700." He suggested, rounding to come level with her on his way out the door.

"Yes sir." She muttered, now reading Werner's summary.

"It's not an order, Carter." He said, briskly leaving the room. Samantha would've detected a cool note in his voice, if she'd not been so engrossed elsewhere.

-*-*-

Samantha Carter yawned and scrubbed at the sleep in her eyes. She absently opened her network mail and recognised a few unopened memos from department heads, also workaholics, in Homeworld security. Three from England, to be expected, one from China, someone who'd worked through the night. One from Nevada.

She felt like she hadn't slept, except for the fact that it was impossible to stare at the ceiling in a completely pitch black room for two hours. A sharp rap on the open door heralded her superior's arrival. "Hungry, Carter?" He asked.

"Actually, it's not so much the food as..."

"I know." He waved her off.

She rose from her seat and they walked side by side to the base elevator doors. He swiped the door. "I was thinking it might be nice to take her to my cabin."

Sam rose and eyebrow, Jack met her eyes. "She obviously knows the place, most of her pictures are of her family fishing and swimming."

Sam nodded absently "I wouldn't know."

"And whose fault is that?" Jack waggled a finger, "Don't say I didn't invite you often enough!"

Sam snorted, an invitation she'd avoid for so many reasons. It'd be awkward, she'd say something stupid or not enjoy herself enough for his likings. Plus, a whole weekend or longer with the superior she had a crush on could only fuel her mind. It was best for the air force that she hadn't gone.

"You could come...." he prodded, "it'd be a good opportunity to get to know Grace a little more?" Jack O'Neill tried to erase all hint of hopefulness out of his voice. He knew it was both a sensible and a terrible idea when he'd had it a few hours ago. Random dreams, both good and bad, about what might ensue from a weekend with Carter had disturbed his short snooze the last few hours.

She looked surprised. Jack didn't push the invitation, and a few moments later the elevator doors opened onto level 21.

Outside the isolation room was a single guard, and next to him a steel trolley with two levels, one hand bowls and utensils, and underneath a carton of juice, one of milk and a couple of different cereals. A large brown thermos and some mugs quickly appeared as they made their way down the corridor, and Carter didn't need to touch the firm plastic to know the liquid would be piping hot.

They passed the coffee retrieving guard on his way to the lift, and the second guard stood to attention. "Sir."

"At ease, airman" Jack waved him off and glanced at the breakfast spread. "Good job on breakfast."

"Yes sir, thank you sir." He said after relaxing his stance and dropping his salute.

"She awake yet?" Jack asked.

"I do not believe so, sir. We were under orders not to disturb Miss O'Neill until your arrival, sir."

"Alright," Jack nodded, "get outta here."

"Sir?"

"She's authorised personnel now, airman, her and Doc Fraiser." The airman finally looked Colonel O'Neill in the eye.

"Thank you sir," he muttered, a smile on his face. He snapped off a salute, and nodded to Sam before aiming for the elevator. Carter glanced down at the tray and moved to stand beside him in the doorway.

"Ready?"

Carter sucked in a slow breath, "as I'll ever be."

-*-*-

Jack O'Neill swiped open the door and moved himself behind the trolley of food. He motioned for Carter to enter in front of him, and then wheeled in behind her just before the doors closed. Grace was in bed in the middle of the room, just as Carter had seen her the previous night. She was laid on her back, but facing away from them, arms and legs in opposing directions, asleep.

O'Neill hit the lights, and smiled brightly, "Rise and shine, Gracie! It's morning!" He abandoned the trolley in the far corner of the room and headed for the bed. Sam followed, feeling the sense of nervousness rise up again in her, she glanced up at the foreboding dark window and hoped no one was watching.

Without really realising what she was doing, Carter came to rest on Grace's right, and O'Neill on her left, he shook her shoulders and bid her good morning loudly again. Huge eyes opened, and her lips quickly formed a broad smile. "Daddy!" She exclaimed.

O'Neill quickly accepted a hug and looked over her head at a Carter. She looked very uncomfortable. "I've brought someone to see you." He nodded his head across the bed when the little girl looked up at him.

Grace turned, catching her legs in the duvet. "Mommy!" She exclaimed, and pressed herself into Samantha's arms.


	20. Chapter 20

Grace

by Aria

Chapter Twenty

Rating: Same as the show.

Disclaimer: I don't own them; if I did then I would be a hell of a lot richer. No one's paying me to write this, so I'm not making any profit from writing it. I'm just killing time.

Spoilers: In the line of duty, Divide and Conquer, Beneath the Surface, Point of No Return, Tangent, Serpent's Venom, Grace, The Other Guys, Heroes.

Synopsis: Grace arrives through the Stargate, and it's not just Sam that can see her. Set a couple of months after Heroes, and Lost City.

-*-*-

The uneasy faces of her lab based colleagues alerted her to Colonel's arrival long before he cleared his throat. Eventually, even Felger's unobservancy won out and he stopped talking to see Colonel O'Neill taking a perch on a stool nearer the door.

Sam smiled at Colonel O'Neill and turned back to her team. "Lunch time? We'll meet back here in forty minutes."

An assembly of lab coats shuffled out of the room, capped off by Felger, who glanced back at her with an odd expression on his face. Carter scowled, confused for a moment and then looked to Colonel O'Neill.

He grinned happily from ear to ear. "We got ourselves a space ship." He declared.

Carter chuckled a little. "So I've heard." She rose from her seat to neaten the piles of documents her coworkers had left around her lab, and then placed herself back on the stool with much less difficulty than a lower chair.

"Wish I could show you around." He said, poking at a coiled device on the countertop.

"The Tok'Ra said that it should be okay, that in their years of moving..."

"You're not going..."

"Gate travel in my third trimester shouldn't be an issue..."

"But what if you eat some unpasteurised cheese or tread on alien cat poo?" Jack O'Neill tutted, his ministrations with the solenoid becoming more forceful. He turned his attention back to her. "You're not going."

Sam smiled softly.

Jack placed a hand on his elbow and gazed across at her. It took a few moments before Samantha averted her eyes in nerves and awkwardness.

Jack glanced down as well, noting a luminous green yo-yo on the desk. He tagged it for later. "Your father's been in touch."

Sam raised her eyebrows. She hadn't seen her father since her first trimester. He knew Jack was the babe's father, but hadn't had time before he went Off World for her to worry about him saying anything. The momentary panic that he might mention it rose before the rational part of her brain reminded her that he already knew.

"They need a hand evacuating themselves. They're leaving Tanith behind."

"Oh." Sam winced.

Jack collected the yo-yo, but restrained himself from playing with the toy yet. "So I won't make your sonogram on tuesday."

Sam nodded, he'd missed the last two as well. She'd brought him back pictures. She was thirty six week's pregnant, and wasn't too sure why she was going for sonograms anymore. The child looked like a child now, and all the organs were grown, just not yet completely functional.

They plotted the child's size along the 25th centile, head circumference and crown-rump length were in proportion. Jack frequently joked that that couldn't be right, surely her head should be bigger if she was going to have Carter's brains. Janet told her it was fine, that modern centile charts allowed for children of obese families and the increasing rate of type two diabetes to be part of the norm, and that her child's size was perfect on the charts from the sixties, when we were all a lot healthier.

They shrugged at each other, and again their eye's caught before awkwardness again set in. "So, what are you working on?" He asked, slotting his finger in the loop of the yo-yo.

"I'll show you," Sam muttered, turning her laptop screen to face him and setting a little animation in motion. A blue line moved towards a large yellow 'sun' on the screen and it shrunk before suddenly expanding, filling the screen with yellow, and then collapsing again.

"Did you just blow up a sun?" Jack asked, pausing his play to lean into the console.

Samantha hadn't written a single computer video until she started working for the airforce. She was continually amazed how a single simulation would sway her superiors.

"Uh huh. The blue object moving towards it is a gate, opened to P3W-451, the planet where we encountered the black hole." She played the simulation again at a quarter of the initial speed. "Initially the black hole consumes the matter, which destabilises the balance of fusion pushing outwards, and gravity which pulls the elements inwards, so the sun explodes."

"Cool." When Samantha glanced at Jack she was surprised his eyes hadn't glazed over. "So, what happens to the gate and the you know..." he made a 'sucking' sound.

"It's destroyed in the explosion."

Jack nodded and lifted his eyebrows. "Along with everything else in the solar system." She continued.

"So...not a way to defend Earth."

Samantha beamed at him, "No sir."

Again they shared a glance that they quickly became uncomfortable with. Sam marvelled at Jack O'Neill's inate, hidden intelligence and patience for her, and he with her beauty, intelligence and patience with him...and then they looked away.

"We'd better ship out." He muttered, backing away from the desk. She nodded. "I'll find you when we get back to get my next fridge picture?" The yo-yo spilled from his fingers as she nodded again.


	21. Chapter 21

Grace

by Aria

Chapter Twenty-One

Rating: Same as the show.

Disclaimer: I don't own them; if I did then I would be a hell of a lot richer. No one's paying me to write this, so I'm not making any profit from writing it. I'm just killing time.

Spoilers: In the line of duty, Divide and Conquer, Beneath the Surface, Point of No Return, Tangent, Serpent's Venom, Grace, The Other Guys, Heroes.

Synopsis: Grace arrives through the Stargate, and it's not just Sam that can see her. Set a couple of months after Heroes, and Lost City.

Just in case you still haven't noticed - even chapters tell one reality, odds another.

-*-*-

"It's like she thinks I'm her mother, and she doesn't see any difference between us." Sam whispered to Janet, leaning against the sink counter.

Janet wrinkled her nose in confusion then lowered the volume slightly more as another shopper walked by. "Well, she didn't see you die, like she did Jack and that - you being her true mother - is what she wants, so of course, that's how she'll treat you."

The Springs Mall wasn't the closest one to the military base, but in Janet's opinion it was the best. It was the place she'd done most of her shopping in her own reality, and so whilst she wasn't quite holding out hope of finding her favourite date dress from three years ago, she was going to visit the same shops with the goal of finding something similar.

After she'd died in this reality, Cassandra had inherited her home and belongings. Cassie had not been home much since then, but one of the things she'd had to do, as she explained over the phone, was take her clothes to good will shops. Sam elaborated that Cassie had been found wearing them and crying on Janet's bed, and so she and Daniel had helped her decide which ones to keep or not.

This morning Sam had taken Grace and Janet from the military base in Daniel's car, and used her own key to open Janet's house. They'd removed dust covers and made coffee, and Janet had looked through her wardrobe for some non BDU clothes to wear. Cassandra had kept Janet's nicest clothing, things she would one day be able to wear - despite her half foot taller frame - and be able to proudly state that they were once her mothers. Janet had eventually found a pretty summer dress, but simple things like jeans, jumpers and underwear needed to be replenished. Grace and Sam had made Janet's bed for her, and they'd left with the intention of finding the little princess something other than a white sundress to wear as well.

Grace emerged from the bathroom stall with a whoosh of a flush behind her, and moved towards her two mother figures. She looked first at Sam, who smiled awkwardly, and then to Janet, who lifted her from behind to peer over the sink and supported her there until she washed her hands.

"Well done, Gracie," Janet said, looking at Sam to remind her to congratulate her daughter on a successful solo trip to the bathroom.

Sam razzled the little one's hair and smiled at her in the mirror, and when Janet released her led the way to the hand dryers.

Janet was amazed at the degree of awkwardness her friend exhibited with her daughter. She'd been fine with Cassandra when they'd first found her, and it couldn't just be about Grace's age as she'd seen her - albeit in her reality - with Mark's young children.

She was sure this was some sort of awkwardness as an extension from that she'd seen around General O'Neill earlier.

She was also sure she hadn't heard Sam mention anything futher about this Pete character that she was engaged to, and that Sam wasn't wearing an engagement ring, despite being off base. She intended to pry when they were next away from little ears.

They meandered into the Early Learning Centre almost immediately on exit from the bathrooms. Janet didn't like the conversation that Sam was going to have to have with Grace next time they went shopping together - why she couldn't have as many toys as on this trip.

"So, when's Cassie getting in?" Sam asked, as a little blonde blur assembled a stack of toys in front of her mother. A sticky dartboard appeared first.

"She's got a paper that she's almost finished, she says its due next Friday, but her tutor is looking at it over the weekend, so unless he suggests major changes she thinks she'll come back midweek." Janet explained. She remembered the breathy anticipation she'd had when she finally spoke with her daughter over the phone two days earlier.

Sam nodded approval at Grace as she tugged an art easel towards her. She stopped and ran off in another direction. Sam collected the dart board and they moved over to the easel to wait for the next, hopefully also semieducational toy.

"What are you going to do together?" Sam asked.

"Walks, movies, talk about how our worlds are different...probably a bit of crying." Janet paused. "I've lost all of this, all of you. I know she's not much different, but she's not really my Cassie. My Cassie is dead too, I just didn't have to see it, like you guys did." Janet's eyes watered, and she dabbed at the corners with her finger tips, hoping to daub any moisture before it affected her makeup.

"You okay?" Samantha asked after a suitable pause.

Janet nodded, turning away from an excited approaching blonde bundle. Sam reached out a hand to squeeze her arm when two books were pushed into her stomach and so she grappled to catch them instead.

A few more moments allowed Janet to collect herself and then leaned against a counter top of 'boys toys' as Grace returned again. "General O'Neill says you're going to come up to the cabin next week."

"Probably the weekend after." Janet added, "with Teal'C and Daniel."

Grace returned with a clear plastic box containing a green plastic wand and was gone again in a flash, Janet noticed Sam's confused look. "It goes with the books." She said, collecting it off the top of the pile in her friend's arms to point out the frog symbols on both. "To help her learn to read. The wand tells her what the word sounds like."

"Oh," Sam's confusion settled. Grace was no longer selecting items she knew, of this Sam was sure, Grace was stood looking up at the walls of toys with a hand on her hip.

"So, are you really going to call him 'General' O'Neill?" Janet pried.

Sam smiled and shook her head at her friend's interference. "In front of Grace we've agreed it's Jack and Sam."

Janet didn't say anything, but presumably out of guilt or nervousness Samantha continued. "We're going to spend two weeks in the cabin getting to know her, and then explain to her about how different this world is and arrange...shared custody...if that's what she wants. I just feel so awkward around her. She'll probably want to live with General O'Neill."

"Sam," began Janet softly.

Sam wouldn't meet her eyes. "It's not like that, Janet, he's on Earth all the time, he has a bigger house. He knows how to raise a child."

"She loves you. She knows you're not exactly her mother, but she doesn't care. You two aren't that different you know? You're both so damned stubborn."


	22. Chapter 22

Grace

by Aria

Chapter Twenty-Two

Rating: Same as the show.

Disclaimer: I don't own them; if I did then I would be a hell of a lot richer. No one's paying me to write this, so I'm not making any profit from writing it. I'm just killing time.

Spoilers: In the line of duty, Divide and Conquer, Beneath the Surface, Point of No Return, Tangent, Serpent's Venom, Grace, The Other Guys, Heroes.

Synopsis: Grace arrives through the Stargate, and it's not just Sam that can see her. Set a couple of months after Heroes, and Lost City.

Just in case you still haven't noticed - even chapters tell one reality, odds another.

-*-*-

General Hammond looked up at a knock on his office door, a heavily pregnant Samantha Carter dressed in BDUs stood in the middle of the frame.

"Any word, sir?" She asked.

SG1 had been evacuating the Tok'Ra from Vorash with the mothership that they'd recently procured from Cronos. Everyone from the Tok'Ra had made it off okay by Stargate, and the mothership was to be loaded with their supplies that were too heavy to carry through the gate. It had been two days since they'd last had direct contact with SG1.

A Tok'Ra long range communication device had reported that there had been a supernova, and that Vorash, if it still existed, was now in the middle of a nebula. Sam knew this was the outcome of a stellar explosion. The Tok'Ra were trying to contact the ship and had proceeded to the edge of the nebula this morning.

"Not yet, Major."

Samantha shook her head and felt a few loose tears fall.

General Hammond was also deeply worried about his top team, and came to the door to take her hand. "Come now, sit down." He encouraged her, and guided her to a chair opposite his own.

George tried to create a barrier between himself and those he commanded. Not much of one, but physical contact was something that he kept to his family, friends, people he didn't order into harm's way. This was why he couldn't offer a crying Samantha Carter, a friend's daughter who felt much like one of his own, a companionable hug. He sat in the second visitor's chair and released her hand once she was settled. "You can't give up hope."

"It was a supernova, sir, it's the biggest explosion in the galaxy." She explained. "The nebula is created out of the expelled contents of the star and the planets that were surrounding it. What hope of survival does a ship have if a planet doesn't?" Samantha openly weeped.

"They may have made it out of the area, and just lost communication due to the radiation, they may have lost engines and need a hand. We don't know anything, Major." He tried to remain optimistic. He had to.

Samantha had asked NASA to set a telescope looking in the direction of Vorash. The light from the supernova hadn't yet met Earth. When it did, if it was during her lifetime, which she would easily have been able to calculate if she wasn't so distraught, she would be able to name it herself, as the discoverer.

"I told him how to do it." She continued, her sobbing making the volume of her voice louder and higher pitched. "I showed him how to blow up the sun."

"Well then you told him how to defeat Apophis, by all accounts his fleet were in orbit around Vorash, and they wouldn't have been expecting it like SG1 were." He tried to be reassuring.

Sam paused her sobs and grabbed her belly.

"Major, are you alright?"

She nodded, and wiped her face.

General Hammond observed his senior officer for a moment, to see if she was gripped by the same sensation again.

"She's just very active today, kicking a lot these last few hours." Samantha muttered. She paused and looked thoughtfully at her bump as another wave of sorrow hit her. Her daughter would never know her father.

They'd agreed that they would tell General Hammond before the baby was born, but both felt too awkward to have done it already. Now awkwardness didn't seem an issue, she just needed someone else to know right now. Her father and Colonel O'Neill were gone now, perhaps forever. "Sir, this is all my fault, Colonel O'Neill wasn't aware until a few weeks ago, but this child...she's his, from the mission when our memories were wiped... I didn't want to jeopardise our working relationship, so I hadn't intended on telling him."

George let out a sharp exhalation of air. He was startled, but processed those few words at length before he spoke. "So you're telling me that you didn't defy regulations in conceiving the child."

Samantha had expected to be in a lot of trouble, possibly swiftly informed of her impending court martial. "No, sir."

George nodded. "And you said you've told Colonel O'Neill recently. Have you entered into some form of relationship, against regulations?"

Samantha scowled. "No sir?"

A sudden wave of nausea hit her and then further pain in her belly. She leant forward towards the desk, and grabbed her belly. "Major?" a voice called in the distance. She felt a hand on her wrist, feeling her pulse.

General Hammond leapt to his feet and pulled the base phone off the wall. "Medical Emergency, my office."


	23. Chapter 23

Grace

by Aria

Chapter Twenty-Three

Rating: Same as the show.

Disclaimer: I don't own them; if I did then I would be a hell of a lot richer. No one's paying me to write this, so I'm not making any profit from writing it. I'm just killing time.

Spoilers: In the line of duty, Divide and Conquer, Beneath the Surface, Point of No Return, Tangent, Serpent's Venom, Grace, The Other Guys, Heroes.

Synopsis: Grace arrives through the Stargate, and it's not just Sam that can see her. Set a couple of months after Heroes, and Lost City.

Just in case you still haven't noticed - even chapters tell one reality, odds another.

-*-*-

Samantha Carter lifted off her sunglasses as the road in front of her opened up to a beautiful expanse of blue. She had felt that they must have been nearing the end of their journey when Jack O'Neill's truck turned off the highway onto a narrow road closed in by trees over an hour ago, but they'd only been using it as a short cut. When they'd turned off onto a road so narrow no sunlight made it through above, she'd not realised how close they were.

The black truck pulled up onto a gravel driveway before the wooden cabin, and the grass on either side revealed the beautiful blue waters of Jack O'Neill's famous pond. Samantha pulled her feet down from the front windshield and slipped them back into her flip flop sandals as Jack O'Neill switched off the engine.

Jack O'Neill had thought that a ten hour drive with his second and their daughter would be painfully awkward. He felt he'd rather unimagined his discomfort, although now he arrived at the cabin he realised their destination was not the relief he'd anticipated.

Sam had driven to the base at six this morning with a pair of thermos masks of coffee and a few additional toys she claimed to have sussed out with her sister in law as suitable entertainment for car trips. They'd loaded her belongings into his truck with little difficulty, and then fitted in a lifetime worth of shopping for a six year old into the open bed of his truck.

The excitement of travelling to the cabin had left Grace awake all night and so she'd been asleep before they'd made it as far as Denver, leaving Sam's toys untouched for the majority of the journey. Other than a brief waking for toilet stops and short walks to show the ladies some of the prettier spots along the drive Grace had slept, despite their efforts at distraction, and Jack knew she would be awake for a decent portion of the night when they would both be exhausted.

Sam had been unable to sleep for fear of seeming like an ungrateful passenger and they'd shared a quiet conversation over the sound of the engine and the muted sounds of several local radios. After noticing how awkward her legs were in the passenger well, surrounded by toys Jack had commented she could put them up on the dashboard, and then found himself distracted by a pair of creamy legs in his peripheral vision for the rest of the journey. She was wearing a pair of knee length loose shorts, but they just rose enough to inform him of the curve of her calf and the beginning of the swell of her thighs.

Now, as the sun stood a few foot above the pond, Jack O'Neill pushed open the door to the truck and took a few steps out. He walked to the edge of the jetty and stretched his arms up into the air and then back onto the ground, releasing the kinks in his back.

A glance back at the truck informed him that Samantha Carter had slid out of the cab and was watching him from the edge of the open door. As he walked back, her gaze remained on the blue waters.

"Land of sky-blue waters." He said, standing by her side.

"You betcha." She muttered. They shared a smile before Jack moved around to reach into the car.

"Rise and shine, sleepy head." He whispered, moving away the folds of his daughter's dress to get to the seatbelt clip. She grumbled sleepily as he opened it, and began to stir when he rubbed her belly with a bit more vigor.

"We're here, Gracie." Sam encouraged, leaning into the car door next to her superior. Their sides touched in the cabin, and he moved an arm back to steady her.

Samantha slipped her hands under her daughter's shoulders and tugged her towards her out of the car, she readily accepted her fate, and paused to wipe her sleepy eyes before reaching out to get proper purchase on her mother's shoulders.

Jack rubbed at the already mop like bundle of blonde curls before selecting toys to scoop up off the floor, when he had one arm full he pressed the door shut and led the way towards the side entrance of the cabin.

For a moment at the door he briefly wondered what state he'd left his holiday shack in last time he'd been here, and then pushed his misplaced nerves away to open the door. The door moved with a long creak, and the warm, still air greeted them as it slowly wafted out.

Jack was pleased that the cabin seemed to lack odour, and led the way into the cabin's lounge area, to the left of the door. He put his arm worth of toys down on the coffee table, and before Sam could drop Grace on the sofa he dragged off the worn rug that served as a dust cover. Sam revealed the rest of the sofa set in the thin strips of light filtering through the windows, whilst Jack opened the shutters and unlocked and opened the patio door, to let a breeze in.

"Mommie!" exclaimed Grace, scrubbing her eyes again before sitting to attention. "We're here!" She realised.

Sam dropped the bundled dust rag on the sofa and slid in to sit next to her daughter. "Yes we are Gracie," She affirmed, wrapping her arms around Grace. Inwardly Sam felt a flurry of nerves as she was called 'Mommy'.

Grace beamed and looked around the newly revealed room. Light glittered off of specks of dust suspended in the air, and the rich red and yellow of the evening sun lit the room.

"Shall I show you around, Mommy?" Grace asked, rising to stand on the couch.

Sam blinked. Grace showed no signs of altered mood, she didn't seem sad, she didn't seem thoughtful; she continued to beam a broad smile at her mother, awaiting a reply.

Sam forced herself to surpress the frown on her face. "That'd be lovely, Grace." She muttered, standing and lifting the little one in outdoor shoes off the furniture.

Jack O'Neill returned with a third load of bags as Samantha and Grace left the lounge towards the kitchen. He was fairly sure that he had brought in everything essential for the night - a bag he'd identified as his own, another as Sam's, and several carrier bags that, at least from the logo on the outside, appeared to be from children's apparrel shops. He'd managed to tuck another container of toys and books under his arm before he'd locked the truck bed hardtop, and decided to shut and lock the front door.

He left the bags of clothes around the doorway and took a few paper bags of groceries and a crate of beer into the kitchen, just as the ladies' exited. He arranged milk and meat in the fridge and made a bowl of fruit. After he'd sorted the groceries, slowly, enjoying the vista from the kitchen window he turned his attention to the rest of the house, opening shutters and pulling blankets out of the cupboards. When he returned to the lounge Sam and Grace were cuddled up on the sofa reading.

-*-*-

Samantha Carter closed Grace's bedroom door softly, and took cautious steps towards the lounge area. She honestly couldn't recall feeling this awkward before, the nearest parallel she could draw was meeting a boyfriend's family, except it felt like she didn't have the boyfriend to support her during the scary moments.

Sam had brought a copy of Aesop's fables with her, a favourite book from when she was a child and was slightly surprised when her daughter had not seemed to know her favourite one. So Samantha had read to her from the collection of short stories, until the curious craning head to her side slumped onto her chest, then Sam placed a thin strip of leather in the page and closed it, leaving it in the bedroom, on a dresser slightly too high for Grace to reach.

Sam supposed the room was Charlie, Jack son's, room when he was alive. Grace had announced it as her room when they'd toured the house earlier. The room was the smallest, with only a single bed and with a small high window over the water, trickier for someone to enter if they were up to no good in the house. The cabin had three other bedrooms, the one next door had an ensuite and overlooked the water, and then two others overlooked the road and the truck.

Grace had spent most of the evening treating Sam as though she was truly her mother, but there had been moments, like when they'd just arrived at the house, when she'd explained something to Sam as though she recognised the discrepancies between the two realities. Sam found the whole thing uncomfortable, but when Grace cuddled up to her the sense of warmth she felt made her wish that being her mother wasn't so complicated.

In one of the lounge chairs Jack O'Neill was sat reclining, he'd cleaned up a little of the mess they'd made entertaining this evening and was sipping slowly from a bottle of Guiness. As she approached he flicked the lid from another bottle and nudged at it in her direction.

"No thanks," she shook her head and sat a decent distance away from him on the large sofa.

"She's in bed, we've had a long day, relax Samantha." He replied gruffly.

'Samantha' she hadn't been expecting that, with Grace going to bed, she assumed she'd be, what? Major? Carter perhaps? It was more appropriate than Major if they were sat drinking beers in his cabin.

Sam took a quick swig from the black bottle, admitting defeat. "I am exhausted." She said, "I took Grace shopping the other day with Janet, it felt like I was back in basic training. A whole day of being vigilant."

"You're not vigilant on missions, Major?" Her salutation. She felt both a sense of relief at the familiarity and loss of intimacy.

Luckily it was a rhetorical question and she was able to sip her way through it. Jack O'Neill surprised her again, "I've put your things in the master bedroom." Sam glanced at the door and noticed that her belongings had indeed moved. "If Grace wants to get into bed with you she'll know where to find you." Sam wondered if he'd overheard Grace showing her around the house with 'and this is your bedroom'.

Sam wondered if he was jealous of her relationship with Grace. She had been terrified of the child and practically forced to make first contact. Jack O'Neill had gone in however with the intention of befriending and adopting the girl. Sam looked across from her beer bottle to see Jack O'Neill looking at her.


	24. Chapter 24

Grace

by Aria

Chapter Twenty-Four

Rating: Same as the show.

Disclaimer: I don't own them; if I did then I would be a hell of a lot richer. No one's paying me to write this, so I'm not making any profit from writing it. I'm just killing time.

Spoilers: In the line of duty, Divide and Conquer, Beneath the Surface, Point of No Return, Tangent, Serpent's Venom, Grace, The Other Guys, Heroes.

Synopsis: Grace arrives through the Stargate, and it's not just Sam that can see her. Set a couple of months after Heroes, and Lost City.

Just in case you still haven't noticed - even chapters tell one reality, odds another.

-*-*-

Jack O'Neill lay back on the examination couch as the health care assistant removed the needle. A flimsy piece of white gauze attempted to stem the tide of blood coming from his plump cephalic vein, and Jack snatched the material away from the assistant to compress himself. Jack lifted his arm in the air, wiggling his fingers and compressed the bleeding vessel. The curtain flashed as the health care assistant exitted with his samples, and Janet Fraiser entered, providing a sticking plaster from a nearby counter for the injured Colonel.

Jack O'Neill rose to sit up, and reached over his head to tug off his black tshirt. Post mission physicals were now routine to them. He'd gotten used to Fraiser's warm hands and cold stethoscope, and felt comfortable that the regular ultrasound scans of his neck probably weren't going to hasten the development of his senile hearing loss.

Janet Fraiser took in Colonel O'Neill's observations chart before she approached him. Pulse in the 60s, systolic blood pressure 145. He had no fever and his respiratory rate was suitable to maintain adequate haemoglobin saturation in room air. His blood glucose levels were fine, and ticks in various columns indicated that he'd already submitted a urine sample and several samples for a panel of blood tests. He had yet to have his ultrasound.

She smiled warmly at the Colonel, but rather than letting him start on his barrage of his usual mock complaints, she thought she would share news of her own. "You know we've had our fair share of drama ourselves whilst you were missing in some other galaxy." Daniel always told her what had happened on a mission during his physical.

"Oh?" Colonel O'Neill lifted an eyebrow as Janet Fraiser's thumb clasped his wrist and took his radial pulse.

She nodded and moved to gently retract his right lower eyelid, checking the clarity and colour of the sclera and tarsal conjunctiva. "Sam had her baby."

Jack darted his head out of the doctor's reach and waited for further information. She continued, not noticing his alarm, and began to feel his chest wall, by now familiar steps in his ribs were felt, none new, one still slightly sore from a recent blow. "She had a condition where part of placenta broke away from the womb and the baby started to complain. She lost a decent amount of blood, but I managed to get on top of it here and then transfered her to the Evans. She had an emergency section."

When Janet finished her sentence, she placed her stethoscope in her ears and moved towards his chest. Jack stopped her hand. "Is she okay? Is the baby okay?"

Janet shook her head with disbelief. Jack O'Neill was becoming agitated. Teal'C and Daniel had asked the same questions but Colonel O'Neill was more concerned. Janet knew they were close, she turned a blind eye to Sam's mental anguish when he'd been stranded off world, but she'd never expected to see similar behaviour from Jack O'Neill.

"They both are, Sam's under observation by the midwives over there, and should be discharged later today. Her daughter is fine too, a bit light, but she's feeding well, so the nurses are happy for her to go home with Sam and have regular weights done."

Janet smiled reassuringly and tried again to auscultate Jack O'Neill's chest. Again, he stopped her. "But she's early?"

"Only by a few weeks," this didn't seem to soothe Colonel O'Neill. "She's doing well."

He sat further upright. "I have to see her."

"She'll be discharged later on, if everything's okay. If not, I'm sure she'd love to see you. We were all worried about you, Colonel, she'll be glad to know you're all..." Janet stopped talking as Jack O'Neill grabbed his tshirt and bolted for the exit. She was startled in a benign manner for a full thirty seconds, which unfortunately meant that when she spoke to security, and when they spoke to their exit desk staff, he'd just left the mountain.

-*-*-

Samantha Carter squeezed her daughter's little legs through her baby grow. Her daughter was cradled by her arm next to her left breast, where she had just finished dinner, and was dozing off to sleep.

Sam shifted the babe away slightly and closed her maternity bra, and then pulled her pyjama top across her chest again. She then lifted her daughter and placed her into the small cot, before dropping to the bed again.

She still felt a little light headed. She was dizzy on standing up quickly, but when the venflon had been accidentally dislodged against the bedside last night she'd promised the nurses she'd drink more fluid.

Her response to her head pounding and the sudden dizzy spell meant she needed to take another drink, and so she wrapped herself up in the duvet and downed the glass of water by the bedside. She refilled it, ready for the next time she felt a swoon.

She was terrified she would drop the baby anyway, she didn't need the headaches too.

Her daughter was beautiful and pink. She had a thin layer of blonde fuzz on her head and her eyes had started to look like they might not be blue. Her body was plump and squishy, and pink all over. She was still passing meconium and milk poo, and hadn't yet had her first proper bath, Sam was just gently washing the dirty bits with warmed water. She still smelt amazing.

She didn't have a name yet.

Sam hadn't done any of the usual stuff. Choosing a name should have been a banter for her and the father. She wondered idly what Jack O'Neill would have wanted.

Everytime she thought of her friends she felt scared. She'd cried a lot, pregnancy hormones fleeing and leaving her emotionally fragile in the light of what should rightly have been a horrible ordeal. She was sure the midwives thought she had postnatal depression.

Samantha didn't expect Jack O'Neill to come barging through the door, out of breath. They both exclaimed each other's names on sight, and there was a moments' pause before they moved into an embrace.

Jack pressed his lips to Sam's neck and breathed in. "I'm so glad you're alright." he muttered.

Sam pressed against his torso with her hands, pulling away to brace herself on the bed. Jack brushed a hair away from her forehead. "You are alright?"

Sam nodded slowly, offering a grim smile. Jack didn't move his hand from the side of her face and Samantha clung to the warmth as her head swum. "I just lost a lot of blood, I've not got it back yet." Sam remembered the water, and pulled away from his touch to grab the glass.

Jack retracted his hand and stuck it into his BDU pockets. He watched her drink her water, and then sat down on the bed next to her. "Ol' Doc Fraiser told me what happened. By the way, MPs might break in here any second."

Sam scowled.

"I've absconded from my postmission physical."

Sam nodded and smirked as she tried to sit up again. "What happened?"

Jack O'Neill beamed a great smile at her. "I blew up a sun."

Sam nodded, "I saw."

"You saw?" pride was in Jack's voice.

"The Tok'Ra sent pictures."

"Pretty?" A nod.

"Crayons?" A smirk.

"Cool." They realised that they shouldn't have been gazing at each other around the same time. Jack rose to his feet and rounded the bed. He took a pause before the step that allowed him to see into the cot. Sam moved to get out of that side of the bed.

"Wow, look at her." He was again enveloped into a huge smile. "She's beautiful."

Samantha gingerly took a few steps away from the bed. Jack beamed across at her, and then reached out to put an arm around her, to steady her, he told himself.

"Five and a half pounds, perfectly smooth head. Feeding well."

"Bottle?"

"Breast"

"Is best." Jack chuckled and squeezed Sam's shoulder. "You did well, Sam, I'm sorry I wasn't here for you."

Sam shook her head. "I thought I was just in pain because I was worried about you, about Daniel and Teal'C" she added, "it turns out that she was so active because she wanted help. They had a paediatrician come for the delivery, she didn't cry straight away, but they don't have any reason to think she'll be unwell."

Jack smoothed his free hand over her hat and rubbed his thumb against a plump cheek. In her sleep the rooting reflex engaged and his daughter turned her head. "She doesn't have a name yet." Sam muttered.

"Turner and Daniel thought I was mad when I suggested the sun thing. Your dad helped me work out exactly what course to plot so the gate didn't just burn straight up. I'm fairly sure he knows I know. We were lucky to get out of that solar system, before the sun went supernova."

"You're both lucky. Here but for the Grace of God." Samantha muttered.

Jack O'Neill watched the child. In her sleep she kicked her legs in agreement. "Grace?" He ventured.

"Grace." Sam smiled, and leant her head into Jack's chest.


	25. Chapter 25

Grace

by Aria

Chapter Twenty-Five

Rating: Same as the show.

Disclaimer: I don't own them; if I did then I would be a hell of a lot richer. No one's paying me to write this, so I'm not making any profit from writing it. I'm just killing time.

Spoilers: In the line of duty, Divide and Conquer, Beneath the Surface, Point of No Return, Tangent, Serpent's Venom, Grace, The Other Guys, Heroes.

Synopsis: Grace arrives through the Stargate, and it's not just Sam that can see her. Set a couple of months after Heroes, and Lost City.

Just in case you still haven't noticed - even chapters tell one reality, odds another.

Guys, sorry about the lack of updates, I've been on call most of the last two weeks, and I'm now on nights. I should get a bit of a reprise from on calls for a few days after this stint, so hopefully I'll get to write more often then.

-*-*-

Jonathan O'Neill lifted up Grace's right arm in synch with Samantha's hold on her left, bringing her little body off the floor by two foot, and letting her legs swing in the arm and to take a 'giant' leap.

Grace had begged to go 'Moon walking' which Jack betted was what Sam had called this particular game as a child, as she'd known instantly what the little one met.

They'd left to circumnavigate his pond a half hour previously. The whole walk would take two hours, Jack reckoned, at toddler speed, including a stop, about now, for some water and a cookie, and then another on the return trip.

Grace giggled each time she was in the air, and then fought to catch her breath when they placed her on the ground. Some times she squealed "Higher, higher, Daddy!" and then Jack would wink across at Sam and they'd stretch their arms high into the air, bringing Grace's kicking little feet to waist height.

A small clearing jutted into the water ahead of them, covered in green grass with little 'beaches' either side. "Quick stop?" Jack asked Carter.

She nodded, and they let go of Grace as she tugged her hands free. Grace sprinted to the middle of the grassy knoll, and fought with her shoes until they came off, socks as well, and then headed for the water. "Not too deep Gracie." Sam warned.

Jack hung back a little as Sam made it to the middle of the bank, collecting Grace's shoes and socks and placing them side by side on the ground.

Samantha wore a loose sundress, a summery green that Jack felt suited her well. After she'd collected the shoes she sat down on the grass, stretching her legs before her and smiled up at him.

Jack felt a pang of regret. He smiled back at Samantha, and proceeded onto the knoll. Grace paddled happily in the water, getting the hem of her summer dress wet in the process, but obviously enjoying herself immensely, and Samantha relaxed by the water's edge.

Jack slung the communal rucksack from his back and proceeded towards her, towards his family. His disjointed family.

The wife, who had once cared for him, and now loved and was going to marry someone else, and the daughter they hadn't had.

When first confronted with Grace, Jack had tempered his emotions. He'd been overjoyed, a child of his own, again. A beautiful daughter, who was sure to be smart and patient, just like her mother. It was a dream come true, but it wasn't.

This week, getting to know Grace, felt like it was going to be bittersweet. An advertisement for what life could be like.

He busied himself with collecting a canteen from the bag and handed it to Samantha first, fishing out the cookie bag. Grace appeared at his side almost instantaneously and he handed her a cookie. She had run off before he sat down again.

Jack watched Samantha, her eyes were focussed on the canteen and she held the smooth green bottle with both hands. Her lips cupped around the green bottle, soft and pink. Jack adjusted his position on the grass bed, frustrated for lusting after his second in command, who was now sleeping in his bed, without him.

He diverted his eyes to their toddling child. She absentmindedly scoffed the cookie, taking bites without taking her eyes off her feet, making careful splashes in the lake.

"It's such a beautiful day." Sam muttered.

"Yeah." Jack agreed, not letting himself take his eyes off their girl.

He felt the canteen appear against his side, and Sam's creamy legs appeared in the periphery of his vision, he couldn't help but watch them. She slipped painted toes out of her flip flops, and stepped onto the grass. He looked up at her, and Sam, realising the angle, gathered her skirt together. "I'm going in." She smiled.

Jack nodded, taking a swig from the canteen. Samantha lifted their daughter and tipped her upside down and then when she swung her up, she took a bite of the little girl's cookie.

"Mommy, mommy!" Grace protested, pulling her cookie back, and pushing it into her mouth in one bite to prevent the thief.

Jack snorted a laugh. Their beautiful daughter and what was clearly going to be a wonderful mother. If only it had happened properly.


	26. Chapter 26

Grace

by Aria

Chapter Twenty-Six

Rating: Same as the show.

Disclaimer: I don't own them; if I did then I would be a hell of a lot richer. No one's paying me to write this, so I'm not making any profit from writing it. I'm just killing time.

Spoilers: In the line of duty, Divide and Conquer, Beneath the Surface, Point of No Return, Tangent, Serpent's Venom, Grace, The Other Guys, Heroes.

Synopsis: Grace arrives through the Stargate, and it's not just Sam that can see her. Set a couple of months after Heroes, and Lost City.

Just in case you still haven't noticed - even chapters tell one reality, odds another.

-*-*-

"He did what?!" Daniel exclaimed, incredulous.

Daniel, Teal'C, Jacob and Dr Turner were sat at the briefing room table. General Hammond had just informed them that Jack O'Neill had fled the base during the middle of his post-mission physical.

"He appears to have gone to visit Major Carter at hospital." General Hammond continued.

Daniel shrugged. "General, you've got to know that there was no point when Jack was alone - he couldn't be a Goa'uld."

"I'm well aware of that, and of Dr Fraiser's ultrasound scan completed prior to his departure. This appears to be yet another example of Colonel O'Neill's indiscretion." George Hammond was clearly fuming at his second in command.

"Have Colonel O'Neill brought straight to my office when he returns to the mountain." He barked at the SF by the stairwell and then stormed into his office, shutting the door.

Daniel scowled and looked around the table. "He knows post-mission protocol." He said to no one in particular.

"Indeed." Agreed Teal'C, tilting his head to one side.

Dr Turner remained mute, but shrugged when Daniel looked at her.

His gaze rested on Jacob. The older man met his gaze with a level expression.

Daniel's eyes narrowed. Jacob's expression remained neutral. "You know something." Daniel surmised.

"Who? Me?" Jacob laughed.

"Yes." Daniel drew out the word.

Jacob shrugged and laughed, "My daughter has a certain appeal to her." Something about Jacob's manner inspired further knowledge.

Daniel wasn't so easily rubbed off, despite Jacob's nonchalant statement. He prodded Jacob, wondering if his long held suspicions were about to be proven. "Daughters are always important to their fathers." Daniel spouted.

Jacob nodded to Daniel, raising his eyebrows before he did so.

"This is Jack's daughter?" No one spoke. "Sam and Jack are... woah, oh my God, I had no idea." He'd suspected, but he also would never properly suspect. His two best friends had always seemed to be deep in denial about their feelings for each other.

Foot steps sounded on the stairwell, and Colonel O'Neill was escorted up the stairs by a pair of SFs. He was led straight past the table into the General's office, and the door shut firmly behind him.

Through the clear wall of Hammond's office, they could see an animated conversation. The voices were muffled by the wall.

"How long have you known about this?" Daniel demanded.

Jacob shrugged, he realised that whilst he wanted his daughter's friends to know, to be happy for her, he also knew some elements to the tale were hers and hers alone to tell.

-*-*-

General Hammond rose to his feet as Colonel O'Neill was led into his office. The two SFs left via the second door, closing it on their way out. They knew their commander was in a foul mood.

"You're playing on my patience, Jack." George reprimanded.

"I'm sorry, sir, but when I heard Carter was in trouble I just wanted to be there for her, as quickly..."

"But it wasn't just Major Carter, was it? You were concerned for the child - your child, I might add."

Jack gulped. "Yes, yes I was, sir. Wouldn't you be?"

"Of course, Jack...and I would've let you go see Major Carter, and the baby - immediately after your post mission physical."

Jack looked down, embarrassed, grateful, unsure of his footing. "I'm sorry, sir, but Doc Fraiser told me about the ruptured placenta and I just had to know they were all right."

George sat down in his chair. "You fathered a child with an officer under you command."

Jack winced, "In my defence, sir, we didn't know anything about that when I did the...fathering..." Jack wasn't too happy about his choice of words.

"You could have mentioned it at the time."

"What? In my report? Hello court martial! Carter and I never discussed it until she told me, a month ago. I've spent the better part of the last year thinking there was a guy on the scene that Danny, T and I never heard about."

"I see your point." George sat back in the chair. "Did you see the child?"

Jack nodded, a smile creeping across his face.

"She's a doozy." George muttered agreement to the younger man's unspoken thoughts, using an adage Jack had no interpretation for. He took it as a good thing. "I don't know what to tell you, Jack, I haven't done much thinking about this." George changed the conversation's tone once again.

"You will never, ever be in a position to recommend Major Carter for promotion or commendation. She may be seconded to your team, to your command, for individual missions, during which time you are to act with the utmost professionalism. I don't want to see a single wayward glance or hell, Jack...just keep it off the base."

George Hammond turned his attention to his paperwork, and Jack felt mildly insulted at the comment, "Sir, I assure you, we..."

Hammond cut him off. "That'll be all, Colonel."

-*-*-

Jack O'Neill made his way quickly to the men's room after the debriefing. He paused in front of the urinals, looking at his face in the panel mirror. He'd missed his shower after the medical, what with running off base and all, and so he still looked scruffy from his stay on Vorash. He ran his hands through his hair and dislodged a couple of particles of sand.

Forgetting himself, and the awkwardness of the debriefing, the stony silence with the team, he moved to the door, intending to lock it before anyone else could enter - thus giving himself fifteen minutes alone. Airmen needing to pee could go one floor down.

The door was pushed open just as Jack reached for the latch, and Jacob Carter stood in his way. "Hello, Jack, going somewhere?" He asked, obviously mistaking a hand for the lock with one for the handle.

Jack raised his eyebrows, "Just finished in here and thought I'd..."

"Good, didn't think so." Jacob over-spoke, and turned to switch the lock where Jack had failed.

Jack pursed his lips, and cursed inwardly.

"So, did you have something you wanted to talk to me about?"

Jack shook his head once, "Did you have something you wanted to talk to me about?"

Jacob smirked, "Look, don't play dumb with me kid. You got my daughter knocked up, you don't get to play dumb. You obviously weren't too dumb to know what you were doing."

Jack winced again.

"Now, I've heard the wiped memory story from my daughter, but you've still got your memory now, and you know what you're doing. At least I think you know what you're doing."

"I'm glad somebody does."

"Are you telling me you haven't got a plan when you have so totally and completely altered the life of my daughter?"

"No sir." Jack raised a single eyebrow. This was uncomfortable, he hadn't had the conversation with the pissed off father for at least forty years now - Sarah's dad had liked him - and it had still been awkward as hell.

"No sir?" Jacob growled.

"I mean, yes, sir, I kind of...have a plan." Jack back tracked. Adding, at Jacob's venomous scowl, "I intend to provide for Grace and Sam."

"Oh...oh" with pure sarcasm Jacob dripped, "you intend to provide for my daughter and your child...by letting everyone on base think the child is by some random stranger. By letting them think that my grand-daughter is..."

"Okay, okay," Jack relented, "so you're right, but Carter and I hadn't agreed yet on when to tell everybody, so I hadn't told everybody. Which is more than I can say for you - you opened your mouth." Jack enunciated his reference to Sam, to ensure Jacob knew his priorities and then swiftly pointed a finger at him. His waggling finger would either ensure a swift decapitation or a chuckle, knowing Jacob as he did, he would bet on the latter.

Jacob smirked and raised an eyebrow at the impertinence. "I'm a proud grandfather, we're expected to talk." and with that, he unlocked the door and left.

Jack breathed out a sigh of relief, and then in an ungraceful push pressed himself against the open door, slamming it shut. He turned the lock.

-*-*-

Daniel Jackson sat alone in the commissary. He had chosen a table right by the door, and placed squarely in the seat in front of him was a cocktail cup of red Jell-O. Stan, the cook, had gone into the back room and shut the door, and, as it was neither lunch nor dinner, the room was devoid of other military personnel.

Daniel lay in wait.

After the briefing, delivered without Jack's usual quips and any evidence of distraction, he'd sprinted off and Daniel hadn't been able to find him. He'd been unable to find Jacob for a while either, and when he did try to confront him he was only able to speak with Selmak.

Part of Daniel wondered if Jack had already left the base, but another part of him was sure that Jack would be starving.

He cleared his throat as a familiar form walked through the door.

Jack O'Neill pivoted on his heels and cursed his bad luck. He attempted to make the pivot complete, a 180 degree turn and then started to leave the commissary again when his friend's voice beckoned for him. "Jack..." Daniel tapped an index finger in front of his own plate, gesturing to the Jell-O and seat in front of him.

"Oi" Jack relented, inserting a Jewish twinge to the word, and slid into the chair opposite. "Daniel," he greeted, "how goes things?"

Daniel swallowed his mouthful of coronation chicken. "Good, good, you?"

"You know, the knee's a little..." Jack bobbed his head and Daniel nodded "after all that sliding around on the floor with the replicators."

Daniel smiled. "And I hear you're a dad again?"

Jack winced, "Look, Daniel, I didn't tell you because Sam and I wanted to tell you guys together."

Daniel nodded, "Is she okay?"

"I think so, a bit overwhelmed."

"So, when did the two of you...?" Daniel trailed off, unsure how to phrase the next part of his question.

"On the planet where we lost our memories. If you want more details, you'll have to ask Sam, 'cos I ain't tellin'" Jack took a spoonful of Jell-O.

Daniel ignored his friend's flippant comment. "So that explains why the two of you have been able to act professionally this whole time."

Jack paused his eating and scowled at Daniel. "What's that supposed to mean?"

"Nothing, just that if you and Sam had been engaged in a relationship this whole time, you would have shown some signs of..."

"Special forces pal," Jack announced, becoming slightly irritated by his friend. "We wouldn't have shown signs of anything."

"Jack, I've known you and Sam five years now."

"So?" Jack said, through a mouthful of Jell-O.

Daniel relented, shaking his head. "So, when can T and I visit the baby?"

Jack smiled, feeling he'd won the argument. "Later, Sam's getting released. If she's not too tired."

"Shall we come round to yours or Sam's?"

Jack paused and then slowed his swallow. He was stumped. Was he going to pick Sam up from the hospital? Was she set up for the baby at home? Jack wasn't, not entirely. Would she want to come to his and have him wait on her and the baby for a few days, at least whilst he was on downtime? Could he get paternity leave to help out a bit longer? Was he eligible for it?

"I don't know." He took his next mouthful slowly.

"So you and Sam aren't..."

"I don't know, Daniel." The annoyance welled up in him again. "The SFs pulled me outta there before we could make any plan."

Daniel relented again, taking one of the last few mouthfuls of coronation chicken. The fluffy white rice was filling him up quickly.

Jack continued with his red Jell-O, secretly wishing it were blue, in honour of Sam.

"It'll work out okay Jack." Daniel said, after a while.

Jack scowled at him, and Daniel held his fork hand in surrender. They ate the rest of their dinner in quiet companionship.


	27. Chapter 27

Grace

by Aria

Chapter Twenty-Seven

Rating: Same as the show.

Disclaimer: I don't own them; if I did then I would be a hell of a lot richer. No one's paying me to write this, so I'm not making any profit from writing it. I'm just killing time.

Spoilers: In the line of duty, Divide and Conquer, Beneath the Surface, Point of No Return, Tangent, Serpent's Venom, Grace, The Other Guys, Heroes.

Synopsis: Grace arrives through the Stargate, and it's not just Sam that can see her. Set a couple of months after Heroes, and Lost City.

Just in case you still haven't noticed - even chapters tell one reality, odds another.

Guys, sorry about the lack of updates, I've been on call most of the last two weeks, and I'm now on nights. I should get a bit of a reprise from on calls for a few days after this stint, so hopefully I'll get to write more often then.

Ps - Love feedback!

-*-*-

Samantha Carter awoke to a warm wet bundle pressing against her chest. She awoke quickly, and tried to isolate the sobbing flesh before she ploughed into her. "Sssh, Gracie, what's wrong?" She asked when she found her daughter's face in the moonlight.

Grace seemed to wake up suddenly. She sniffled, and Sam reached for a tissue from the box on the nightstand. She wiped Grace's nose and then threw it in the direction of the waste basket. "Mommy?" Grace croaked.

Sam tossed aside the duvet in a more constructive manner than Grace's earlier attempts and placed a kiss on the little one's forehead. She then wrapped her into a hug and pulled her down onto the matress, whispering soothing sounds until the sobbing stopped.

"What's wrong?" She asked again, when Grace seemed to have calmed.

"I had a bad bad dream" Grace replied, taking deep breaths between each word.

Samantha hugged and held the small child, wondering what it was she dreamt about. She waited in the dim light until the sniffling sounds ceased, and rubbed the little one's belly whilst she whimpered. She felt a pull in her throat with each little wail, and was grateful when she found the strength to speak. "What was the dream about, honey?" She asked, earning another wet hug from the child.

Grace buried her neck into her mother's shoulder "You don't want to tell me?"

A firm shake of the tiny head, "Are you sure? It's just a dream, darling."

A second firm shake.

Eventually Grace gulped against Sam's shirt. "Where's Daddy?"

Sam froze. Jack. This was the master bed at the cabin. His bed. Their bed, she assumed, in the alternate reality. Why wouldn't he be in this bed with Grace's mother?

The bathroom? No, there was an ensuite.

"He went to get a snack." She lied.

Grace nodded. "Can I sleep with you?" She asked.

"Just tonight, Grace." She muttered, inwardly cursing herself. She sat upright. "I'll just go get Daddy." Grace nodded, wriggling onto her chest in the middle of the bed.

Sam slipped her legs off of the bed and rose to her feet. She moved to the door and then turned back to look at the drowsy child. She was nearly asleep, would she notice if Colonel O'Neill didn't join them in the bed that night. She breathed quietly and slowly, and watched Grace for signs she may already have fallen asleep. Grace rolled onto her side. "Mommy?" She called out.

"Just going to get Daddy." Sam muttered, opening the door, "Go back to sleep." She added, stepping into the hall.

Samantha closed the door quietly behind herself, and tip toed down the corridor to the second guest bedroom. She paused with her hand on the door. She could go in and ask her superior officer to share a bed with her, for the sake of their daughter, or she could have told the child the truth.

Samantha wasn't sure which prospect was more daunting. She rationalised that telling Grace her parents weren't together was probably something they should discuss with her together, almost like a divorce.

She put her hand on the door and turned the handle, biting the bullet and then, as the door opened a few degrees, she backed out, pulling it shut slowly behind her.

"Carter?" sounded Jack O'Neill's voice from within. Light flooded under and around the door frame. "Carter is that you?"

Sam chewed her lower lip and pushed the door open once more. It creaked a little as it got to forty-five degrees, a familiar sound from earlier in the evening, and she blinked against the comparitive brightness of his night stand.

Samantha stepped into the room and closed the door behind her, attempting to further shield their child from their conversation. "Sorry, to wake you, sir." She said, when she was finally stood still, with her back to the door.

"I woke up a few minutes ago, thought I heard a door open. I know I locked the porch." Jack muttered. He was still on his side in bed. "And how many times do I have to tell you to call me Jack? We're on vacation."

"Right." Carter bobbed her head awkwardly. "Jack...your daughter is asking about you."

Jack O'Neill raised an eyebrow.

"See, she had a nightmare, and wants to get into bed with...us."

"Oh."

"Yeah."

"Yeah."

"I figured the conversation about...us...about our relationship...." Sam didn't notice Jack wince. "...could be better left for another time, maybe tomorrow."

He nodded, "Tomorrow's good."

"So, would you mind..."

"Oh."

More awkward glances. Sam raised an eyebrow, and then Jack did. Eventually Sam turned around, and Jack slid his legs out of the bed, regretting his choice of boxers as pyjamas, even on a balmy summer's night.

Sam looked awkwardly at the door in front of her and then to the chair to her right, a pair of pyjama bottoms were in a pile on the floor, recently stepped from, as was a tshirt, slung over the armrest. She picked it up and felt the bottoms snatched from her hand with a curt thanks.

"Um...do you mind if I don't wear a top?" Colonel O'Neill, asked from behind her.

Sam was taken off guard. It was only then that she realised that she was in her own night gear and felt rather underdressed to be talking to her superior. Her short purple cotton nightdress appeared to ride higher on her hips and lower between her breasts as she glanced down. "It's just so hot tonight." Jack O'Neill continued.

Sam turned to face Jack and found herself evaluating the chest in front of her. Muscular with grey and black hairs decorating the 'v' extending from the shoulders to the xiphisternum. She shouldn't appreciate him as an attractive man, not with their working positions and military ranks. She found his face quickly. "No, no thats fine, sir."

"Jack." She said, correcting herself as she opened the door handle.


	28. Chapter 28

Grace

by Aria

Chapter Twenty-Eight

Rating: Same as the show.

Disclaimer: I don't own them; if I did then I would be a hell of a lot richer. No one's paying me to write this, so I'm not making any profit from writing it. I'm just killing time.

Spoilers: In the line of duty, Divide and Conquer, Beneath the Surface, Point of No Return, Tangent, Serpent's Venom, Grace, The Other Guys, Heroes.

Synopsis: Grace arrives through the Stargate, and it's not just Sam that can see her. Set a couple of months after Heroes, and Lost City.

Just in case you still haven't noticed - even chapters tell one reality, odds another.

-*-*-

"You okay?" Jack O'Neill asked Major Carter, announcing his presence in the briefing room before he made his approach to the table.

Sam wiped at her face, clearing the wetness in the rims of her eyes, and blinking against the burning sensation threatening to overspill tears again. She nodded.

Jack O'Neill shoved his hands deep into his pockets as he came to rest behind the chair beside her. _Sure, whatever_. He thought to himself as he watched the well practised action.

Samantha Carter was a good soldier, and she'd just had a fair wringing out from their commander. She'd returned from her house via 636, and the alien, who had the knowledge to build a honking space gun and a Stargate in her basement, had given its life for Earth.

"You want a lift home?" He offered. Her car was parked on the street a few houses down from her own, just outside of the hundred yard perimeter they'd set up this afternoon.

When he thought Sam had composed herself enough, she rose to stand and collected a manilla SGC insignia folder off the desk. "I guess I should get started on the clean up at some point." she grumbled.

Jack nodded, backing away slightly so she could get out from between the two chairs. "Where's Grace?" He asked. The SGC didn't have a nursery or a creche.

"Janet's." Sam replied, "Cassie is babysitting her today."

Cassandra adored Grace. She had informed Jack with a smile she was going to treat her like the little sister she always wanted. Cassie had older brothers on Hanka who protected her fiercely. She'd always wished for an older sister, she claimed.

Jack nodded, watching Sam, who had yet to bring her face to look at his. "We'll pick her up on the way."

He could see the corners of Sam's lips curve into a small smile. Their daughter was always welcomed, and always provided a sense of peace and happiness.

The curve was fleeting, and Jack felt a sense of unease rise in his belly. Sam continued to not meet his eyes, and so he overcompensated, attempting to make light conversation during the awkward rise to the parking garage in the elevator, and continuing in the car during the short trip to Janet's.

It was Cassie who opened the door, and ushered them through to the lounge, where Janet was playing with Grace on the sofa.

"Hey guys!" Janet greeted. "We were just..." she gazed down at the infant beside her "eating our feet." She chuckled, and reached a hand around the proffered leg to tickle the baby's belly.

Thankfully, Samantha seemed to snap out of her revelry at the sight of their daughter, and moved around the sofa to pick her up. "Hey!" She exclaimed excitedly.

Recognising her voice, Grace turned to her and began to coo. Sam lifted the bundle, and held her to her chest, pressing her lips into the space where, one day, there would be a neck.

"How was your day?" Janet asked smiling up at Sam and then turning to face Colonel O'Neill as well, unaware of the events of the past few hours.

Sam met Jack's eyes finally, across the sofa, with stoicism. Janet didn't miss the frosty glance. "Fine." Jack replied.

Janet's eyes narrowed slightly and then she smiled over at Sam. Sam pulled Grace away from her chest, close enough to allow her daughter's little hands to reach for her mother's face and have a bit of a fiddle, or a well intentioned bash. "Better now I've seen you, my darling." She replied, as a fist made contact with her cheek.

Cassie had collected up Grace's bag and returned to the lounge. "She's been a doll." She informed no one in particular, and moved towards Sam with the diaper bag before changing her mind and passing it to Jack instead.

"You seem keen to get rid of us." Jack commented, although he himself wanted to drop Sam home and get out of the awkward environment.

Janet answered for her, "She's got a date, but I told her that as Sam was paying her to babysit her 'sister' she had to stay until you collected her."

Jack was surprised when Sam didn't take the proffered bait - the date - and pry further. Normally she would be much more openly jovial with the girl that she considered like a second daughter herself. Jack didn't think Sam would have let having a true daughter of her own change their relationship so much, and so he took it as a sign of her lingering low mood.

When at length someone spoke it was himself, "I trust it he has honourable intentions, and will be returning you home at an appropriate time." Jack mock glanced at his watch until Cassie gave the baby bag a push into him. "Don't squish the diapers." He joked in return.

Janet laughed openly, and rose to her feet, no doubt sensing the tension both rising in her own daughter and between himself and Sam. "I'm already on it, Colonel." She led the way to the door, and Sam followed suit.

"I'll see you soon?" She asked Sam as she stepped through the entrance way. Jack didn't hear the reply as he continued, pretending not to snoop, a few paces in front.

The ride to Sam's house was completed in a similar silence, with Grace cooing away happily in the back. He parked directly in front of Sam's house, and rushed around to collect the baby bag from the boot before she could grab both and disappear.

"I can take that." She argued in the dim disappearing daylight.

"That's okay, I've got it."

Sam shook her head. "I can manage my child and her bag, Jack." She held an even glance that put him in his place, and he handed back the baby bag. Sam took it onto her shoulder, and headed towards the house.

"Can I use your bathroom then?" He asked, not wanting the conversation to finish so abruptly, having never really started. He wanted to be helpful.

Sam didn't even bother heading for the front door, which had been unceremoniously boarded up by the strike team, leaving the property secure on egress. She walked around to the side gate, opening the padlock there, and then up onto the porch at the back to open the lounge doors.

The immediate vista upon entering the house looked the same as it always did. Sam motioned for Jack to find the bathroom, and he did so. When he pulled the cord next to the light he didn't get any reaction, so he went by the light of the tiny window over the toilet. He wandered leisurely back to the main lounge dining area. Grace was sat happily in a baby bouncer on the lounge floor, but Samantha was stood in the hall way. She appeared to be looking at the outline of receeding sunlight on the floor, cast by a a thin gap in the wood obstructing the hallway.

It was then that Jack noticed the damage done by the strike team. Sam's white front door lay on the floor, cracked in places from numerous pairs of booted feet. Along the walls of the hall were streaks of black from their march, two by two, into the property. Behind Sam by a foot or so, to their left, was the entrance to the basement, again, another door off it's hinges propped up to the right. Thick dusty foot prints were embedded into the ground at his feet, and he was willing to bet her circuits for the flat were fried.

He swung on his heels. "You can't stay here tonight."

Samantha didn't turn to him, her arms folded across her chest in front of her, he couldn't read her. "We haven't anywhere else to go."

He stepped forward and pulled her to his side, her head dropping to his shoulder. "You can stay at mine...for a few days. Get this place tidied up at your own pace." When she didn't speak he pointed out, "Grace already has a bed, and you can have my guest room. We'll just need to make the bed."

Sam sighed and relented. She went into her bedroom and pulled out a few items of clothing. They left as the light became to weak to see in the house.

Jack wasn't particularly happy about the sight Sam would be greeted by, on arriving at his home that evening. He knew there was an empty dirty plate on the coffee table, along with a couple of empty bottles of Guinness.

Sam entered the apartment nervously, but as he found the takeout menu and got her settled in the room where Grace's crib was temporarily living, she seemed calmer, more content. When she returned to the lounge area to await their delivered chinese food, fresh from her shower and cleanly dressed in comfortable civvies he wondered if she was relaxed enough to ask the question. "You wanna talk about it?"

Sam shook her head, and picked up the beer he'd left open and separate from his own, obviously hers. She took a swig. "Man, I haven't had one of these in ages." She muttered.

Jack rose an eyebrow. He couldn't even imagine that, but, of course she hadn't. He scowled. "Will it affect the breast milk?" He enquired.

Jack had tasted his fair share of breast milk. Sam always provided little frozen bottles for Grace when she stayed at his. He knew that she expressed daily on the base in the women's locker room. He always defrosted it thoroughly and warmed it gently in a water bath, and then tested the temperature on the inside of his wrist before feeding it to Grace. Not really feeling it appropriate to wipe it off with a towel, he licked the small spot and had gotten used to the slightly sweet taste. He didn't see it as particularly odd, but didn't feel it was something to mention anyway, just in case.

Sam looked at him with surprise and then shook her head. "It shouldn't."

Jack waggled his brows at her, "even so, I don't think you should get legless."

He settled further into the sofa, and toyed with the remote. "You know I've still got Star Wars..."

Sam let out a short laugh. A further sign she had lightened.

He flicked on the television and the dvd, which had sat in the player most of the last two weeks. He'd managed an hour or so of the movie in five minute spells here and there, but he didn't mention this to Sam, telling it to play from the beginning.

The dramatic music started and the words began to fly across the screen. Jack tried to read them for a few seconds and then gave up, his attention diverted.

"So, when you said that you were on a date, the other week..." He trailed off, unsure.

He had Sam's attention now, and she reached for the DVD controller, pausing the movie, when he still didn't finish his statement, she repeated it for him.

"Were you and this Orlin guy..." again he trailed.

Sam had folded her arms again and turned to face him. "Were we romantically involved?" With a disapproving sigh she tossed her vision up to the ceiling. "An alien has been living with your daughter for three weeks now, and that's what you're asking?!"

Jack wasn't sure why he was in trouble. He felt it was best to be quiet.

"At least you believe he existed now, before you thought I was crazy."

Jack bobbed his head, he conceeded that point. She'd fainted on her first Offworld mission since maternity leave and the surveillance had turned up nothing.

"At least he was helping, I've not seen much of you."

"Hey! I've helped." Jack yelled.

They both glanced in the direction of the guest room, waiting for a cry. None came. Jack had helped with childcare. He collected Grace to spend every other night with him when he'd been on the planet in the two months of her short life. Most of the last three weeks Daniel had been seconded to translate for the space gun project, so he'd been on Earth and helping a lot lately. It was just that his exchanges with Sam had grown shorter, especially, he guessed since this Orlin guy had retaken human form and been wandering around her house.

The day that she told him she had a man in the house... "I guess I was kind of hurt..." He added.

Sam interrupted "What right do you have to be hurt?"

"I don't know." Jack growled in response.

They focussed their attention back to the television, and Sam pressed play again on the remote.

A few minutes of silence ensued as neither of them paid attention, but yet were both so intently focussed on the television.

Jack adjusted his bottom on the seat.

He knew Sam was internally scowling at his fidgetting. He could feel her roll her eyes.

_This is ridiculous_, he told himself. They cared for each other, they had a child together. Now he had found out she hadn't been romantically involved with Orlin, or at least, that's what he thought he'd heard, he should be elated, and part of him was, but it was overwhelmed by the part of him that simply couldn't sit still when Sam was angry at him like this.

With a sudden sigh, expelling all the grumpy air, he rose from his chair, blocking off the television and extending a hand to her. Time to break the ice and show her his creation. A little earlier than planned. "Come with me."

Sam unfolded her arms and looked confused. She rose to her feet, but didn't take his hand.

"I want to show you something." He explained, retracting his hand and stepping out of the sunken living room. Sam followed suit, and soon they stood together outside the last guest room door.

Some clear plastic tarpaulin extended from under the doorway, which Sam hadn't noted when she'd walked past earlier for her shower. Jack gestured to the door and so Sam opened it, stopping her before she could push it all the way.

The smell of drying paint greeted Samantha as she opened the door, and she could see the front lawn out of the large bay windows. The room was dark and her eyes attempted to adjust until Jack threw the taped switches and illuminated the room with bright light.

The vista greeting Sam was magical. She turned slowly around the room, taking in the murals painted on every wall of the room, newspaper and tarp crunching under her bare soles.

"Jack," she gasped, "This is amazing!"

She beamed at him, a Carter mega-watt grin, and suddenly all the tension of earlier in the evening was broken.

Sam approached each wall, only slightly, not wanting to loose track of the bigger picture presented to her.

Each wall was a mural of a slightly different scene. The first wall to her left, was a jungle scene, with huge leaves from plants of different heights and different shades of green, the odd red and purple, depicted. There was a dirt pathway painted onto the wall, forking in the middle and animals drawn in the trees. A wildboar with a friendly face peeked out of the undergrowth, and a snake was wrapped around a hanging branch. A bright red plumed bird dressed a decidedly alien looking tree in the corner of the room, which became a coconut tree as she turned to the wall she'd initially been hit with. The wall below the windowsill was painted a sandy colour, and it appeared to turn into waves and sea water in front of her.

To her right was a painting of hillside, with well demarcated fields of shades of green and yellow, perhaps hay and rape seed oil, with a setting sun. And finally behind her, was an alpine vista. Mountains appeared to rise up in the distance against a pale sky. Pine trees and snow, a dirty pale grey snow with a clear pair of foot prints trailing off the bottom laid the foreground. Samantha's happy face came to rest on Jack again, in the doorway. "So this is what you've been doing..."

"When Grace is asleep, when she's at yours." He filled in. He moved into the room. "This is that bird that crapped on T on 686." He tapped the cartoon like bird drawing on at head height. "And this is the stone sculpture from Vorash." He moved to the far right of the beach scene, to a figurine peeking around the corner. "If it had a beach, I guess, which, with all that sand I was kinda hoping."

They shared a smile.

He looked up at the ceiling, which was a wonderful blendy of sky blue and fluffy white, and the mirror sconce light shone like the sun. He then flicked off one switch, and on a second, and LEDs lit in tiny points on the ceiling "I only put the symbols for Earth up here, Auriga, Cetus, Centaurus, Cancer, Scutum, Eridanus."

They stood quietly in the room as Sam isolated his versions of the visions in the sky. Jack breathed slowly and quietly, finding them in order himself before he turned the main light on again and continued.

"The fields are Edora." He didn't look at Samantha. He wasn't sure he should have mentioned that one, but as he had, "This was the view from the place where we watched the fire rain, together," meaning him and Sam, not Laira. "during the day, after two months of back breaking work."

The Alpine scene even Sam remembered, "That's Simarka, where I was forced to sleep in a hut that smelt like Yak."

They shared a chuckle. "And wore that beautiful blue dress." He added.

Their eyes met across the room, and something passed between them. Their broad grins softened into gentle smiles.

Jack averted his eyes to look at his feet. "I guess I wanted Grace to have something here. When she's older, I hope this will be a great nursery for her."

He looked to Sam, only to see that she was still watching him with the same intensity that they'd shared seconds earlier. An overture from the 'New Hope' theme boomed from the next room and this time it was Sam's turn to glance away. "We should really turn that down." She muttered, and made a beeline for the door.

On instinct Jack stepped forward and grabbed her arm. She spoke his name curtly, half startled, half pleading.

Her eyes screamed at him, she was terrified to move and break the moment, and Jack relaxed his grip on her arm. He didn't let go, but if she really wanted to, it would have been easy to go.

The music was growing louder in the next room, but neither of them heard it, so carefully were they holding their breath, waiting for the other to make the first move. There were so many reasons why this was never allowed to happen.

"Jack" This time, when Samantha spoke his name it was full of longing, full of hope, and so he pressed his lips against hers.

When he released her arm Sam held his shirt and Jack her head, his fingers in her hair and the base of his thumbs against her jaw. When they paused, Jack kissed her eyelashes.

"He told me he loved me." Sam whispered, confessing about Orlin, but in her mind, releasing all the men who'd expressed interest in her on missions - Martouf, Narim, Hanson.

"I love you." Jack admitted, kissing her forehead and then tilting her face up, encouraging her to open her eyes. "I always have, Sam."

They didn't speak, but kissed again, and committed this night to both their memories.


	29. Chapter 29

Grace

by Aria

Chapter Twenty-Nine

Rating: Same as the show.

Disclaimer: I don't own them; if I did then I would be a hell of a lot richer. No one's paying me to write this, so I'm not making any profit from writing it. I'm just killing time.

Spoilers: In the line of duty, Divide and Conquer, Beneath the Surface, Point of No Return, Tangent, Serpent's Venom, Grace, The Other Guys, Heroes.

Synopsis: Grace arrives through the Stargate, and it's not just Sam that can see her. Set a couple of months after Heroes, and Lost City.

Just in case you still haven't noticed - even chapters tell one reality, odds another.

Guys, sorry about the lack of updates, I've been on call most of the last two weeks, and I'm now on nights. I should get a bit of a reprise from on calls for a few days after this stint, so hopefully I'll get to write more often then.

-*-*-

Samantha wandered into the lounge with a glass of water. She'd been reading a novel on the dock and heard music start up ten, maybe fifteen minutes ago, and this tune was sufficiently lively to draw her attention enough to make her bring her legs out of the water and walk into the house.

Jack O'Neill and their four year old daughter were moving frenetically in a manner that could only loosely be described as dancing. The words were rather nonsensical, but lively masculine vocals, and some sort of horn to go with strings and full bodied drums.

Sam leant against the bookcase for twenty seconds before Grace bounced towards her. "Mommy dance!" she exclaimed, clearly too breathless to insert any niceties.

Jack seemed to take that as his cue to beg off, and Grace spotted it. "Daddy dance too!" She squealed.

Sam put down her glass of water on the coffee table and began bouncing lightly, keeping her knees bent so that her hands could hold her daughter's, rather than just touching her hair.

Jack did similar from behind the far livelier bundle, until she turned to him, and Jack took a hand to twirl her as though a ballerina on the lounge floor.

The song appeared to end without a finish, and another song with a beat, this time one Samantha recognised from the radio a few months ago came on.

Human 'beat boxes' supported Justin Timberlake and a few token instruments. Grace made her movements more angular to compensated for the change in tempo and Sam couldn't help but laugh and copy.

"That last song was really good, what was it?" She asked an exhausted Colonel.

He looked confused briefly. "Something about mice? And a car..."

Sam laughed again.

"Modest Mouse!" wailed Grace, clearly this was one of her favourite tunes and was not to be forgotten. Sam tried to remember, but knew such an abstract name would be forgotten before she was allowed to sit down again.

The music began to slow and guitars replaced the beat boxing people and Jack, clearly familiar with the song as well collected Gracie, in an attempt to slow dance with his daughter. She wriggled away. "No, mommy." She stood briefly on the coffee table as she struggled out of her father's arms and pushed her parents together.

Jack accepted Sam into his arms with a bump, and dropped one hand to her waist, the other taking her hand. He could feel both her and him trying to maintain a respectable distance, but Grace wouldn't have it, and so instead of dancing the waltzes of old, he found himself rocking from side to side with Sam Carter looking up at him.

Grace collapsed onto the couch, clearly exhausted, laying back on the sofa and alternately played with the tie of her dress and gawped, doe eyed at her parents.

"Is this a cd, or...?"

"It's a cd, Grace found it, Cassie must've left it when she came up here last summer."

Sam glanced down at their little matchmaker and tried her best to let her feet move with the Colonels. It wasn't exactly a difficult dance, but the last thing she needed, in such closed quarters, was to trip or stumble.

"So you like swing...?"

"What?" She startled, confused at the question.

"The song, the last one, you said you liked it..." Jack O'Neill wasn't sure why she was surprised.

Sam smiled, "Yeah, it was fun."

Jack opened his mouth to indicate agreement, but his gaze drifted to their daughter, she appeared to be dozing off, but awoke quickly everything his gaze rested on her.

When the song changed for something loud with an obnoxious rap Sam and Jack pulled apart. "Somebody's nap time." Jack muttered, rearranging the tired limbs so he could scoop their owner off the sofa.

Sam expressed her agreement and collected her water, taking thirsty sips. Dancing with Jack O'Neill was not an experience that she needed, ever, when trying to keep a clear head. She'd been focussed on too many things. His hand on her back, burning through her shirt, yet gently guiding her clumsy steps. Maintaining her breasts slightly away from his chest, without letting him realise she was avoiding that contact like some plague. The smell of shirt and him, after a morning in the sunlight.

Shortly after they'd disappeared down to Grace's bedroom to fight over whether or not it was truely nap time Sam bid a retreat into her own bedroom. She closed the door, sat down on the bed and thought for something to do for a few minutes to save her going back outside.

Her book was on the picnic rug. She had another in her holdall, but she couldn't start a second for the sake of a few minutes alone. She collected her handbag and tipped out its contents. Her ID chain fell onto the comforter and sparkled back up at her.

Her engagement ring had sat in her handbag, forgotten, for a week.

She sat herself back down onto the bed, and briskly loosened the reef knot around the thin gold band. She was watching the light off the stone when she recognised, in the corner of her eye, that her phone was displaying a different screen in its dull ten year old Nokia display. Messages.

On autopilot she unlocked the keys and dialled her voicemail. "You have five new messages..."

"Hey, Sam, it's me. How are you darling? I've just wrapped up a whole day of paperwork - hey, I know it sounds boring, but I've been working on some of those mothers for ages now..."

She clicked to hear the next message without waiting for it to finish.

"Hey, Sam, it's me. I've had a crazy day - I'd love to tell you about it, call me."

"Hey, Sam, it's me. I guess you've had to head off somewhere on short notice. I love you. Call me?"

"Hey, Sam, it's me. I thought I'd give it a few days and see if you got back to me. You still away? Is there some special base hotline I should know about? I love you. I hope you're safe."

"Hey, Sam, it's me, your fiance? Pete? I miss you. Are you back yet? I've managed to wangle this weekend off, if you're home, I could come up to the Springs. Please call me."

Sam felt tears well up behind her eyes as she disconnected from her voicemail. How could she have not spoken to Pete for a week? Now he thought she was on some faraway planet, risking her butt, when in reality she'd been up here, dancing with a daughter and her superior.

She felt a knock at her door and heard it being pushed slightly. "Hey Sam..."

Jack stopped speaking abruptly as he took in the scene in front of him. Sam was sat on the bed, serene and still, and in her hands were her phone and her engagement ring.

Pete. He'd almost forgotten about him.

"Hey," she greeted, turning to look at him.

"I didn't mean to interrupt."

"What's up?" She asked. Not putting down the ring or the phone.

"You spoken to Pete much? Up here, I mean? Sometimes you don't get great signal. I don't have a landline." Jack babbled, dropping his eyes from hers.

"No." Sam replied, quickly, it was the truth.

"I guess it's been a while since you saw him, you two must not get much..." Jack stopped himself. He really wanted to be helpful, encouraging, but he just couldn't.

"He says he's free this weekend." Sam wasn't really sure why she volunteered this information.

Jack wondered if she wanted him to invite Pete here - to his happy family. Jack felt it was the gracious thing to do. "You could take the truck if you wanted. Meet half way, or if you don't like driving it, maybe the train or a rental car..."

Sam nodded. "I'll think about it...Thanks...I guess I'll just...call him."

As an after thought, she waved the phone a little.

Jack nodded and backed out of the room.

When he shut the door he took in a deep gulp. He would have stopped to lean against the wall or door for a moment, but the last thing he wanted was for Sam to think he was eavesdropping - or worse, for him to actually overhear any of their conversation.

Whilst he hadn't thought Pete was out of the picture, he felt he'd been hit by the man like a hunk of plywood. They were dancing, he could see it, feel her in his mind's eye. They'd been dancing around each other for years. He couldn't blame her for wanting something more, something with clear lines and boundaries. He just wished it didn't have to hurt.


	30. Chapter 30

Grace

by Aria

Chapter Thirty

Rating: Same as the show.

Disclaimer: I don't own them; if I did then I would be a hell of a lot richer. No one's paying me to write this, so I'm not making any profit from writing it. I'm just killing time.

Spoilers: In the line of duty, Divide and Conquer, Beneath the Surface, Point of No Return, Tangent, Serpent's Venom, Grace, The Other Guys, Heroes.

Synopsis: Grace arrives through the Stargate, and it's not just Sam that can see her. Set a couple of months after Heroes, and Lost City.

Just in case you still haven't noticed - even chapters tell one reality, odds another.

-*-*-

Mark Carter sat at the hotel bar and accepted his second glass of scotch. Springs was a two hour drive, and the party was due to extend long into the night, but it'd still be a nightmare persuading his wife to let them stay at the hotel for the night rather than take the kids home to bed.

Bedtime was looming and Sam's friend had a teenage daughter who was going to babysit his two children and their cousin in a separate suite whilst he and his wife, and the happy couple, who have their privacy for the night. Mark was surprised this teenager was willing to forego the additional few hours of dancing, but Sam had said she was so excited to be staying in the hotel room, it hadn't been a consideration.

Grace, his sister's daughter, laid on a sofa to the corner of a room, she wore a lovely white dress, one he was sure wouldn't fit her in a matter of months - but that did not matter, for it was surely ruined, with a rivulet of blackcurrant squash down the skirt to the hem. There was space next to her for a guest to sit, and at this moment, it was his own father, but the atmosphere of friendship in the room was such that she was often left alone, with occasional glances from everyone present to assure her safety.

The Carter family was a band of few, Jacob, Mark and Sam made up the remaining trio on this planet, and from what he gathered, the groom had no brothers or sisters either. They had close friends and colleagues, all of whom were attempting to dance or sharing stories as he took in the atmosphere in the room.

His wife was talking to Cassie, the teenager who was going to do the babysitting. He wanted to smile at her across the room, move to her and tell her how beautiful she looked, but that would have to wait until after the children were asleep. His son was doing a dance routine to a song the DJ was playing. He was too young to know it himself, but had picked it up quickly from the others, his daughter, younger and less co-ordinated, appeared to be trying, but he could see the frustration in her face and was concerned that at this time of the day she was near to tears of the grump.

Jack appeared to recognise this as well and picked the little girl up, to her and Mark's surprise. He spun her and smiled at her and then took her back into the middle of the dance area, where he and Sam had been centre of attention. He moved her hands in time with the music and Mark heard a cackle of his daughter's laughter.

All the men at the party were tall, so his daughter's view from the top may not have been as impressive as she hoped - certainly not as from the head of the black man who wore a hat, whose shoulder's Grace had spent a portion of the evening on. As Jack danced, his shirt tails flapped in the breeze. Mark averted his eyes as Jack placed a chaste kiss on his sister's lips, indicating he had found another dancing partner for the moment.

Mark was surprised about a lot of things about Sam's new husband, and looked around the room - Darcy, his wife, had agreed with his misgivings, so no new information there. His eyes rested on his father, sat back, taking in the room. He ordered another scotch before heading over.

His father smiled at his as he approached, and greeted him with his name.

"Dad," he grinned back, passing him the glass of scotch.

Jacob lifted his glass towards his son and they nodded to each other, taking a quick sip. "You enjoying the party?" he asked.

Mark nodded, "lots of people Sam knows from work..."

"You know your sister, absorbed in some project or another, only bringing home the math team to study."

Mark smirked, remembering whole teams of besotted bespeckled geeks trooping up the stairs into her bedroom to study. He quickly moved back to his line of questioning though, "...and Jack's someone from work? Dad, the airforce needs to work on its cover stories. No way does that man look at deep space telemetry."

"What's that supposed to mean?"

Mark looked across the room. Jack was older, people had made jokes about his trick knee. HIs reflexes were quick and he was clearly strong. So was his sister, she'd never been large, but certainly the last five or so years of radar telemetry whatever had made her more trim - he could see that in her bodice cut dress. "He's not Sam-smart."

"Look, it may not be quite as obvious as with Sam, but he's got a good head on his shoulders. He's good at what he does."

"You're awfully defensive about someone who is only just marrying your daughter."

Jacob looked down at his sleeping grand daughter. Sam had told him a story about when Mark and Jack had first met, about the cover story. Mark didn't know Jack was her commanding officer. "God knows what your sister was thinking," Jacob relented, a truth.

"I wasn't sure I was going to like Jack either, the first time I met him."

Mark raised an eyebrow, "Oh? When was that?"

"When Sam got the air medal. FIve years ago I guess." Jacob paused for another sip of drink, "he was one sarcastic son of a bitch."

"Remind you of anyone?" Mark drawled.

Jacob smirked and shook his head. He moved forward and he and his son shared a quick embrace. After a second or so, they patted each other's backs and pulled away.

Mark didn't share his first experience meeting Jack. It was his sister's wedding day, meeting the man outside her bedroom was something that most fathers - and brothers for that matter - wouldn't want to hear about.

-*-*-

Pete was dressed when he pushed his way into Mark's bedroom, shaking his friend awake. "He's old." He harshly whispered to Mark.

"Who's old?" Mark asked, a little too loudly for his friend who harshly tried to shush him.

"The guy who turned up last night, the baby's father, I guess...and keep your voice down!"

Mark yawned and rubbed his face. The smell of bacon wafted towards him, and he made more of an effort to keep his eyes open this time. He sat upright, blinking a few times. Pete's earnest face begged him to make more sense of the situation. "The baby's father turned up last night?"

Pete sighed, it was one of the many reasons his friend couldn't go into the army or policing. His ability to sleep through anything...also, how slow he was to wake up.

"Well, what did he have to say for himself?"

Pete shrugged, flopping down to sit on his mate's bed as Mark sat up. "I don't know man, she didn't even seem angry or...it was like she was apologising to him."

Mark stifled a yawn and went to his suitcase for a pair of jeans, tugging them on swiftly. "What do you mean? What were they saying?"

"I don't know. They went into the dining room and then off to bed."

Mark gulped, reaching into the case for a tshirt. He pulled it over his head before offering his condolences. "I'm sorry, Pete. I thought that was finished with, otherwise I never would've tried to set you guys up together. Sammy never talks about her love life."

Pete shrugged, beaten. "Tell me you don't think he's too old for her." He whispered, pulling back the door handle.

They tipped toed into the corridor and then waited side by side for a minute to enter the kitchen. "Morning!" Sam greeted them, turning around with the kettle just as the entered the kitchen area.

Mark could've sworn she looked a little nervous to see them emerge together, and then Mark spotted the 'old' guy. To her left, with his back to them, poking at bacon rashers with a spatula. Mark moved into the kitchen and kissed his sister on the cheek, calming her nerves a little. He grabbed two mugs from the cupboard he'd quickly identified last night, and held them in front of her. She placed tea bags and the poured hot water into both, and politely asked "Did you sleep well?"

Mark nodded, "It's a nice guest bed, I wonder if you should think about keeping the mattress on this one, I know the other frame is nicer, but I think it'd be more comfortable."

Sam smiled at him, grateful for the vaguely relevant discussion. She didn't need two spare double beds in the house if she was only going to have one guest bed and a room for her child. "I don't know, Pete, what was your bed like? Was the mattress comfy?"

"Just fine." He seemed to growl, as Mark placed the tea on the breakfast bar.

Mark tried to melt a bit of tension. "Sammy, your guests have multiplied. Aren't you going to introduce us?"

Mark spotted the nervous smile Sam brought home with her and new boyfriends during their teens. "Right, Mark, Pete, this is Jack O'Neill." Only then did the tall silent man turn to face them both. "Jack, this is Pete, and Mark - my brother." Jack nodded curtly at Pete and then reached a hand out to shake with Mark. He accepted it, not entirely expecting the stiff military grip that he felt. Jack let go just as quickly, and he moved back to the stove, although opening his body language up a little and trying to remain part of the conversation.

"Which guest bedroom will be the nursery, Sammy?" Jack asked, clearly mocking her lifelong nickname.

"Well, Jonathan," she replied, clearly retaliating. "I was thinking the one next to the bedroom."

Jack nodded, and in the corner of his eye clocked Mark retrieving the milk from the cupboard. "Would be a good choice." He muttered after consideration.

Mark never was one for tact. When he wanted to know something he just asked. He waited for Jack to turn off the stove, and bring the pan to rest in front of a selection of plates. Mark hoped they were laiden with eggs.

Sam moved to his elbow and tried to help, she recieved a gentle bump and Jack muttered something which encouraged her to sit down, so she collected her mug of tea and climbed onto the stool in front of Pete. Sam smiled awkwardly at Pete and he did his best to look like a polite guest in return. "Thanks for the tea, Sam." Pete said.

Sam beamed back at him, she glanced over at Mark when he spoke. "Yeah, thanks Sam, lovely tea, great night's sleep. I gather I didn't even stir when you came in last night, Jack. Sorry I didn't wake up to say hello."

Jack appeared to pause a minute, and then continue dishing out the bacon. He moved a few slices by his own hands onto the plate, and then used the spatula again. He moved towards the table and placed down a delicious looking plate of bacon and egg in front of Sam and Pete each before returning to the corner of the room. "Well that's all right, Mark." He said as he moved. "It was late, I didn't expect a welcome."

Mark nodded, as he moved his cup in anticipation of his breakfast. "Oh, but Jack, I would have wanted to welcome you - you're the father of my new niece or nephew, aren't you?" Mark pointedly ignored the scowl that Sam had fixed on him.

Jack lifted the remaining two plates up and came over to the table. Mark wondered if he'd dropped the rashers on his plate and that's why he'd used his fingers on them. "Correct." He said, and placed a plate of eggs and burnt bacon in front of Mark. "Sorry, Mark, but my fingers have been all over these ones." he said, placing the crispy rasher plate in front of himself.

Mark levelled his gaze at Jack. A worthy opponent.

Sam smirked at him. That'd teach her brother for sticking his nose in.


	31. Chapter 31

Grace

by Aria

Chapter Thirty-One

Rating: Same as the show.

Disclaimer: I don't own them; if I did then I would be a hell of a lot richer. No one's paying me to write this, so I'm not making any profit from writing it. I'm just killing time.

Spoilers: In the line of duty, Divide and Conquer, Beneath the Surface, Point of No Return, Tangent, Serpent's Venom, Grace, The Other Guys, Heroes.

Synopsis: Grace arrives through the Stargate, and it's not just Sam that can see her. Set a couple of months after Heroes, and Lost City.

Just in case you still haven't noticed - even chapters tell one reality, odds another.

Guys, sorry about the lack of updates, I've been on call most of the last two weeks, and I'm now on nights. I should get a bit of a reprise from on calls for a few days after this stint, so hopefully I'll get to write more often then.

Rashers are slices of bacon with the fat etc.

The song that Sam, Jack and Grace were dancing to in Chapter 29 was Modest Mouse's "Dashboard"

-*-*-

Sam hired a light aircraft at Marshall airport and flew herself to Denver to meet Pete. He agreed to pick her up from the domestic arrivals area, but when she landed at Denver she found herself waiting for a security check and a sweep of her plane.

She was sat in the back room of some security office, seemingly ignored for half an hour, before a guard led her out of the building, apologising for any inconvenience. They must have run her identification, or called General Hammond, because the man then treated her with a degree of aloof respect, and guided her out. Pete was waiting for her outside the security office, a broad smile from ear to ear.

Sam felt a familiar sense of elation and moved towards him with her own smile and a feeling of joy and ease. "Sorry, sorry - I flew myself and the security guys kept me..." Pete pulled her into a hug and kissed her neck, "uh!" she groaned in his embrace. "I've missed you."

She meant it. This was simple, this was easy. Everything at work, everything in the cabin - with Grace - none of that was easy. She found herself wondering if she was allowed to have this as a thing apart. Could she keep her two worlds separate?

They separated and Sam was thankful for the joy she saw in his eyes. She kissed him, earnestly. He moved to take her shoulder bag, not heavy by any stretch, but a welcomed act of chivalry. Sam linked arms with him and they left the building.

-*-*-

"So are you going to tell me where you've been?" Pete asked cautiously, not stopping his ministrations on Samantha's shoulders. She was sat between his legs on the sofa floor, enjoying a shoulder massage.

Samantha's eyes flew open and she scowled to herself. They'd enjoyed an easy drive home, she'd showered and changed and been fed a delicious dinner, now they sat on the couch enjoying each other's company. After a moment she realised the ease had crumbled away, and climbed up onto the sofa. "Minnesota."

Pete smiled, and leaned in to kiss her. "Really? 'Cos I would've thought Vulcan or maybe the other planet with the people with wierd ears..."

Sam chuckled and shook her head.

"Just Minnesota, huh?" Pete nodded and settled back into the sofa cushions.

Sam smiled, "I guess, I'm still not sure how much I can tell you."

Pete stroked back an errant hair and invited her to say more. "I signed that thing remember. You're allowed to tell me things now."

Sam laughed a little, she glanced up at the ceiling and "oh..." she let out a soft sigh, "Holy Hannah." She muttered quietly to herself. "I have a daughter."

"What? I mean, that's incredible. But how? Who? When?" Pete's accepting smile didn't falter. Suddenly he shook his head. "Wait, this isn't related to the Stargate - is it?"

Sam focussed on him. "You're not..." She paused, struggling to find a word. "Mad? Jealous?"

"More confused, actually." Pete answered her. Beaming at her. "What's her name? How old is she? What's she like? Who's the father?"

Sam took a deep breath. That easy feeling was now completely gone, slowly growing in her belly was a sensation of unease. She didn't want Pete to know the child was Jack's...the Colonel's. She corrected herself, and then was disappointed, and then the sense of unease grew.

"Well, her name's Grace. She's four." Sam reached around to the side table and took a swig of her drink, holding it between them.

Pete's smiled encouraged her to keep talking.

Sam was torn by the sense of pride and family she felt for Grace, the need to protect their unit. "She's wonderful, she's inquisitive, she's beautiful."

"Do you have a picture?"

Sam shook her head, "No, I haven't taken one yet." Jack had, he'd started a whole family album already. Family.

"I can't wait to meet her." Pete added.

Sam paused.

Pete smiled warmer, and leant towards her.

Samantha swallowed as Pete stroked her hair. She maintained her broad smile.

"I'd believe that, smart and gorgeous, like her mother."

Samantha blushed, and the snake coiled in her belly.

"So when do I get to meet her? I can't wait for us to have a family, Sam, but with your work, I never thought it'd be an option any time soon, and now the Stargate posits us a chlid?"

Samantha closed her eyes to avoid dropping a tear.

"Sam?" If Pete had detected it before, it was only now that he showed that something was wrong.

"I'm sorry, honey, this must be so strange for you." Pete leant back a little, encouraging Samantha's wet eyes open.

"A little," she diverted from his gaze. He looked so honest and hopeful, she couldn't bear to betray him with her thoughts.

-*-*-

Pete dropped the subject, but given the mood was already ruined, it wasn't long before they retired to bed.

He slipped off to sleep quickly and easily, but Sam laid silently in the dark, gazing at the ceiling. They rarely retired without making love, especially after so long apart, but Pete had sensed her mood and not pushed the issue beyond an errant caress that she ignored.

After nearly two hours looking at the ceiling she slid herself out of the bed, maintaining a horizontal position until her feet could touch the floor without disturbing the mattress or covers too much. She collected a gown from the bedroom door on her way into the lounge and sat for a while with the lounge light on, and then, after she had become comfortable on the sofa, turned it off and fell into the sleep she had been waiting for.

Samantha dreamt of the daughter she had met, playing together in the log cabin, fishing, taking her for a swim in O'Neill's pond. She imagined home work, collecting her from Janet after a while Off world. She saw everything in her dream from another perspective, watching herself in the dream as well and tried desperately to peer around the corner to see the man in the dream. Was there one?

Finally she found herself in a house she recognised although couldn't place. She heard a familiar wail 'mommy, mommy' and instead of turning to her child's voice, her vision caught on a counter. There was a photo of herself and Grace, Grace being held by Pete. Grace arrived and announced herself with a 'ta-da' wearing a ballerina's tutu.

Sam chuckled and collected her daughter. "You didn't look!" wailed Grace. Sam kissed her daughter's cheek. "What were you looking at?"

"I was looking at this..." Sam enunciated each word carefully, and lifted up the photo to show her daughter.

Grace's bright smile drained from her face as she saw the picture.

"This is wrong."

Sam scowled, holding her daughter's torso away from her. She blinked, and the perspective in the dream changed. She saw her daughter's cautious face peering at her. "Is this really what you want, Mommy?"

Sam gulped and heard Pete calling her name. She glanced at the photo, to see his lips moving. "Sam, what are you doing in here?"

She woke with a start, gazing into her fiance's caring eyes.

"Good morning. I was worried when I didn't see you in bed. Are you alright?"

Sam glanced around the room - Pete's lounge, she'd slept on the sofa. Her neck ached from sleeping in a near ninety degree angle.

His concerned face brought back a flash of Grace's from her dream, seeming so real, only moments ago.

"No, no, I'm not. Pete, we need to talk."


	32. Chapter 32

Grace

by Aria

Chapter Thirty - Two

Rating: Same as the show.

Disclaimer: I don't own them; if I did then I would be a hell of a lot richer. No one's paying me to write this, so I'm not making any profit from writing it. I'm just killing time.

Spoilers: In the line of duty, Divide and Conquer, Beneath the Surface, Point of No Return, Tangent, Serpent's Venom, Grace, The Other Guys, Heroes.

Synopsis: Grace arrives through the Stargate, and it's not just Sam that can see her. Set a couple of months after Heroes, and Lost City.

Just in case you still haven't noticed - even chapters tell one reality, odds another.

-*-*-

"Enough aeroplanes!" Jack exclaimed with a growl, letting his daughter drop, less than ceremoniously, onto her head in the sandpit. He held her legs in the air until he was sure she was about to tuck, and then let his daughter roll and come up standing. "Daddy needs a rest, his knees aren't toys."

Jack stumbled slightly and waved his hand in the direction of the jungle gym. "Those are toys, those are potential friends, go...play."

His daughter looked towards her mother for a moment and then trotted over towards the gym. Jack made his way towards the picnic bench and the inviting lap of his wife. His head pushed aside the journal she was reading and made its way onto her lap as his back hit the mat beside her. Samantha looked up with a start.

"Hello?" he greeted, smirking at her.

Samantha glanced about her until she located their daughter, and then looked down again at her husband. "Hello."

Jack's hands reached out to grasp her journal and closed it, taking in the front cover before tossing it gently into the breeze. "American Physicist?" He asked, his tone clearly mocking.

"Wouldn't you like to know if, at least occasionally, they get it right?" she retorted, grasping for the papers. Jack intercepted her hand and pulled it to his face, kissing the knuckle.

"No." He said, gazing up at her before eventually adding, "and certainly not on our first weekend off together for six weeks."

Sam smiled at him. He hadn't needed to prolong his last mission. She hadn't needed to go into the base to sort out a few artifacts with Daniel, and fix a few things - doohickeys - with Siler. They were both work-a-holics, ethics she didn't mind passing along to her daughter, as long as the O'Neill unit knew how important they were to each other...with weekends like this.

Samantha gazed across the grass to her daughter. Grace was making light work of the jungle gym, quickly making her way up the plastic coated frame. Now she paused on the gym, one arm hooked around the bar above, one foot perched on the bar below, and waited for another child, slightly older, to cautiously make their way to the bottom. Grace, sensing her mother's gaze, swung around so she could see her and waved fervently. Sam beamed and waved back.

Jack attempted to look in the direction of Samantha's wave and found he couldn't, Sam's knees and his own head comfort restricted it, so he continued to watch Samantha until her attention returned.

"So, America's physicist," Samantha smirked a little at her title. "Are you enjoying the sunlight?" Jack spoke softly, a tone he reserved for when their daughter was out of earshot. He knew what it did to her. Her gaze lowered and he continued, "The breeze?"

Jack pulled himself up to provoke his wife's responses. "The fresh mountain air?" His presence forced Samantha back onto the rug, and he leant over her for a kiss. His hands had travelled down from her jaw to her elbow when he heard his title being wailed in the distance.

He revelled for a moment as her pulled away, opening his eyes and distracting his lips to see Samantha's eyes closed and hear her emit a soft moan, and as he thought 'i still got it' he rose to sitting again and clapped his hands.

Grace was stood on the top of the jungle gym, waving happily at him.

"Woo hoo!" He bawled, his hands cupping around his mouth in between claps. "You're on top of the world, Princess!"

Samantha Carter pulled herself up on her elbows and watched Jack and swaying her head to the side, her excited daughter. The sense of relaxation and contentment was destroyed only a second later when she saw her phone light up and play its ring-tone. On her other side, she could see Jack's phone vibrate through his abandoned jacket. She didn't need to look at the display to tell it was the SGC calling.


	33. Chapter 33

Grace

by Aria

Chapter Thirty-Three

Rating: Same as the show.

Disclaimer: I don't own them; if I did then I would be a hell of a lot richer. No one's paying me to write this, so I'm not making any profit from writing it. I'm just killing time.

Spoilers: In the line of duty, Divide and Conquer, Beneath the Surface, Point of No Return, Tangent, Serpent's Venom, Grace, The Other Guys, Heroes.

Synopsis: Grace arrives through the Stargate, and it's not just Sam that can see her. Set a couple of months after Heroes, and Lost City.

Just in case you still haven't noticed - even chapters tell one reality, odds another.

-*-*-

Janet stepped off of the infirmary floor and into her office. She shut the door behind her and leant against it, breathing a deep sigh of relief.

She'd never done a mission physical where she felt like people were watching her. Every member of SG-7 watching her. Observing. Respect, but not trust. She couldn't blame them. She veered on the side of trust...in the way of a doctor.

_So, you haven't had a ciggarette since you quit?_

She was always thankful that those around her kept a watchful eye whenever a friendly alien arrived on base.

_You're worried that the condom 'split' so you've come for emergency contraception._

When Leyla Morgan, Captain Morgan, had flinched as she called her by her first name it had been painful. Major Lauren had been unusually monosyllabic as she'd asked about his kids.

_And you're sure there's no pain, at all, from your recent appendicectomy scar?_

Janet Fraiser had lost track of the lies that patients had said to her over the years. Until now, she felt like the first few months of civilian training had been the worst discussions she'd had with patients. The truth she'd heard today from SG-7 now topped the list.

_Sorry, Doc. But you gotta understand, it's been a long time._

_Look, the way I understand it, you're not my Doctor Fraiser, so I'm not Leyla to you. In your reality, you could be...anyone._

She felt a few tears creeping at the corner of her eyes as she moved towards her chair and placed down the files she had held tight to her chest. Within a few moments the repetitive action of drawing clear lungs with a cardiac silhouette and scaphoid abdomens had her slightly diverted and had kept the tears at bay.

Going to see Sam, Jack and Gracie at the cabin with Cassie, Daniel and Teal'C was the only thing that made her smile everytime some watched her in the corridor.

-*-*-

A sudden knock at the door caught her when she was smiling. "Come!" She called.

Simon Wells was at the door, beaming at her, but equally managing to look sheepish.

She returned the smile, but tried to maintain an additional air of professionalism to avoid some of her earlier problems. "Airman, what can I do for you?"

"Actually..." Simon stalled and pushed the door shut behind him. "I was hoping I could do something for you..." From his grip he produced a small piece of paper, and proffered it towards her across the desk.

Janet didn't take it immediately, so Simon took it back, gazing down at the paper as he tried not to fold it, to fiddle.

"You saved my life, Doc. On 666 I got hit by a staff weapon. Straight to the gut from behind. It was so painful, and uh..." His throat hitched and he paused.

Janet watched him earnestly, patiently encouraging him to continue. "...bloody, I guess. I was sure I was gonna die out there...that my team were gonna die trying to save me. I don't really know a whole lot'a what happened, but I know you came out and sorted me so I was okay to come back, but you got shot and killed out there instead of me."

Janet swallowed. She blinked back tears. Sam had told her already.

This was clearly a difficult story for Simon to tell as well, he took another deep swallow. "My wife, she was pregnant at the time, we thought it would be a boy, until it was born and it was a girl, and the only name we could think of, the only one that fit, was Janet."

Sam had told her already. Jack had told her already. A tear slipped from her right eye.

Simon edged towards her, placing a 4 by 3 inch picture of his child on top of her pile of notes she was writing in. She lifted the photo and caught the beaming face of a six month old beaming with joy. An open mouthed smile indicating she could not contain her happiness. She had erratic blonde hair, and was dressed in a pink dress.

"I know you're not exactly the same, but I still wanted to say thanks."

Janet smiled softly at the photo. "She's beautiful."

Simon blushed. Janet offered the photo back.

"You can keep that one if you want, I have loads..." she nodded silently. "Well, Doc, back to work, now - I guess."

-*-*-

Daniel looked up as he heard the door to his office close. "Janet, hi!" He welcomed, but as she moved towards his desk he didn't sense a light mood.

"You okay?"

Janet's red hair bobbed and she didn't look up to him as she pulled up a perching stool near him. Daniel pushed his open books to the other side of the bench, allowing him room to lean on an elbow on the desk.

"I guess I just didn't anticipate this would be quite so hard, quite so...confusing."

Daniel nodded slowly, tapping a pen. This was all so confusing, very difficult. Sam and Jack had a child! He had no idea how that was going to work out. Jack was clearly overjoyed with their daughter, but the logistics of having a child with Sam's job and Jack's job and Pete's job would clearly be interesting. As for Janet, he was just happy to have her back, he knew Teal'C, Sam and Jack felt the same. Cassie would probably find it harder, but hopefully feel the same.

"I hate the way people look at me. Is everyone always so scrutinising? Do our alien visitors feel like this?!" Janet clasped her hands in front of her.

Daniel sighed. "I hope not."

"On the one hand, I've got teams flinching when I examine them, asking me to refer to them by rank." Daniel winced, Janet had always had such an easy bedside manner, and wore her heart on her sleeve with those she cared for.

Cautiously, after a long pause, Daniel encouraged "On the other hand..."

Janet turned to faced him now, her eyes filled with tears, a few had slipped onto her cheek and she let out a quick sob, "I've got Wells coming to thank me, and tell me he's named his daughter after me...after her."

She passed Daniel the photo and he glanced at it briefly, before moving it to the side and placing an hand between Janet's shoulder blades. In silence, he gently rubbed whilst she bailed into a cradle of her wrists on his desk.

"Sam told me, Jack told me." She muttered, "I knew I died, but I didn't realise how it would feel to be back."

Daniel moved his hand up to the nape of her neck and let his thumb and fingers rub her skin above her uniform here.

"Daniel, how did you do it? How did you cope?" Janet lifted her head and looked at him.

He smirked, he was probably the only person she could come to who had been in the same situation. "A day at a time, I guess." He took his arm away, "but, I didn't know I was me, I was happy with whatever reactions people gave me because I didn't know them."

Janet subdued the urge to roll her shoulders, to physically react to the warmth, comfort and intimacy his hand provided. "I don't think I'm that different to your Janet Fraiser."

Daniel shook his head, "No, and I know that, Sam does, Jack does - T does. Give the others time."

Janet wiped her eyes. "What if Cassie needs time?"

Daniel wasn't sure what to say. If some errant comments from team members and a photograph of a beautiful child could bring Janet to tears, he hated to think what reaction her daughter's return would elicit. "I guess, then, she needs time."

She sniffed.

Cassandra and she had spoken a few times on the phone this last week. Her tutors were very happy with her work, but in attempts to make her the shining star of the class suggested areas for expansion in her dissertation. It meant a few extra days. Cassandra and Janet would now only have one evening alone together before the trip to the cabin.

"She's your daughter, Janet - whatever time she needs will be worth it. I have no doubt you'll be happy with your relationship in the long term."

Daniel had also spoken to Cassie. She'd called everyone in the 'gang' including General Hammond in DC to find out what was the scoop on her new mother. Daniel had no doubt that when he'd finished talking to Cassandra the first few times she'd been crying afterwards, but recently he felt the phone calls had ended in a more upbeat note, and hoped that she'd returned to her work. Daniel knew he'd probably spoken to Cassandra more often than Janet, and wasn't about to bring up Cassandra's concerns, worries and fears to Janet in this state.

Janet nodded quietly and brought her hands to wipe her eyes again.

Daniel reached out and smoothed hair from her face. He pulled away when Janet froze.

An awkward smile, quickly shared.

"Look, Janet - why don't I take you for dinner tonight? Just the two of us, we can talk..."

She nodded, "I'd like that." And then she rose to stand and replaced the layers of cool exterior she'd developed over years as a woman in the air force. "God knows it's boring in the house now it's dust free!"


	34. Chapter 34

Grace

by Aria

Chapter Thirty - Four

Rating: Same as the show.

Disclaimer: I don't own them; if I did then I would be a hell of a lot richer. No one's paying me to write this, so I'm not making any profit from writing it. I'm just killing time.

Spoilers: In the line of duty, Divide and Conquer, Beneath the Surface, Point of No Return, Tangent, Serpent's Venom, Grace, The Other Guys, Heroes.

Synopsis: Grace arrives through the Stargate, and it's not just Sam that can see her. Set a couple of months after Heroes, and Lost City.

Just in case you still haven't noticed - even chapters tell one reality, odds another.

-*-*-

"Sir?" Sam started as she arrived in the control room. The whole base was chaos. There were no salutes in the corridor and personelle were jogging between rooms. Several truck loads of soldiers had passed them on the way in, heading off base, their faces grim.

"Where's O'Neill?" General Hammond asked.

"Taking Grace to his office," Samantha began.

"Grace?!" Exclaimed Hammond.

"Sir, we were in Cheyenne Mountain Park, sir, it seemed sensible..."

Hammond waved a hand, "I hope to God you don't need to be glad you brought her."

Sam nodded once, what was going on?

Hammond obliged her silent question, "There's a mothership over Antartica. Major, Anubis is drilling into the ice."

"What does he want in Antartica?"

"I don't know, and as he hasn't sent out any ships or tried to communicate in any way." General Hammond muttered. "Can you stream line the dialling time whilst the gate is active?"

Samantha nodded, glancing towards the window. The gate was quiet.

"We're compiling the alpha list, Major."

Samantha gulped and swallowed.

"Felger's program to scramble the DHDs...." Hammond began, "Does it have potential?"

Sam nodded, "We've not field tested it yet, but computer simulations look good."

"The first members of the Alpha list are being extracted now, the President has...declined...his invitation, but until they arrive, I want us to send the Avenger virus to a number of worlds in Anubis' domain."

Hammond seemed to have a plan. "The dossier's on my desk, Major."

Sam nodded, and jogged up the stairs.


	35. Chapter 35

Grace

by Aria

Chapter Thirty-Five

Rating: Same as the show.

Disclaimer: I don't own them; if I did then I would be a hell of a lot richer. No one's paying me to write this, so I'm not making any profit from writing it. I'm just killing time.

Spoilers: In the line of duty, Divide and Conquer, Beneath the Surface, Point of No Return, Tangent, Serpent's Venom, Grace, The Other Guys, Heroes.

Synopsis: Grace arrives through the Stargate, and it's not just Sam that can see her. Set a couple of months after Heroes, and Lost City.

Just in case you still haven't noticed - even chapters tell one reality, odds another.

-*-*-

Samantha Carter felt a huge wave of relief flow over her as she recognised the cabin up ahead. She swung the truck into the drive way and brought it to a stop in front of the kitchen window.

She could navigate her way across the galaxy, but on one of the last turnings in Jack's short cut, she'd found herself confused over an Ordnance Survey map.

She slid her long jean clad legs out of the truck, and pushed the door shut. Rolling her neck and shoulders she took a few slow steps towards the porch and the water. There was quiet; pure and simple. The odd rustle in the trees, the occasional bird call.

Samantha smiled to herself: This was perfect.

She looked at her left hand, the sort of action she wouldn't have considered last week - part of the problem - but her fingers felt free. She was sure the sense of loss, or longing for 'a' normalcy, would return at some point. She knew her brother would call to find out what had happened, but until then, she was enjoying the peaceful feeling that went with ... freedom.

To do what?

To talk to Jack O'Neill and tell him that she wanted nothing more than to raise their child together. She paused in the sunlight on the edge of the gravel driveway and closed her eyes. There were challenges ahead, but she could sweep them under the rug for the minute.

Samantha advanced towards the house, noticing a child's bathing suit and a pair of male trunks hanging over the porch. They hadn't waited for transport to amuse themselves. She spotted the fishing rods propped against a deck chair in the distance and squeezed the child's bathing suit. It had been baked dry in the summer sun.

Samantha slipped off her flip-flops on the porch and pushed the sliding door further open. The kitchen was empty, a pair of upturned glasses on the drying rack, she moved the open juice carton to the fridge.

The lounge was similarly quiet, a few children's books on the floor, an abandoned, adult male, pair of sandals. Samantha made her way to her bedroom, pushing open the wooden door.

It was nap time, they should be in bed. Samantha wasn't expecting to see Jack and Grace curled up on the master bedroom, in her bed.

She quietly advanced into the room.

Jack's sleeping form was clad in a pair of black boxers, the elastic peeking from the white sheets she'd slept in. His tee and shorts were in a crumpled pile on the floor. On his chest was their daughter's face, distracting Samantha from her CO's well structured chest, covered in spirals of grey hair. Open over his groin was her copy of Aesop's Fables, left in Grace's room until now, read page by page for a night time story.

Grace was well asleep. Her little mouth was slightly open to permit a corner of the sheet. She was wearing a little pair of pink knickers with bright flowers all over them, a single piece of material shone brightly and protruded itself further than the others.

Sam continued towards them, not by means of her own conscious volition. She lifted the book gently, regarding the page they had been reading. The fox and the grapes. She read the title aloud in a whisper. She perched on the edge of the bed near Jack's thighs, turning through the pages, reading the end of the story she'd started with Grace.

A hand reached for hers, lightly running its finger tips over the back of her hand, lingering, she wondered, over her ring finger. "Sam?"

Startled, she turned to him. She didn't break the contact, every touch felt so sensitive. "Sorry, I didn't mean to wake you."

Samantha put her hand down on the bed between them. Jack moved with her, and for a moment, slipped his fingers between hers, lightly grasping the latter two fingers, before he realised his actions and pulled away. "I didn't expect you back so soon."

Sam breathed deeply, feeling every second as a test, looked away and closed the book. "I'll leave you guys to your nap, I'll bring my things in."

Jack watched her, noting how far away his shorts were from her feet as she stood and took a step away from the bed. "Hey, Sam." She smiled at him, not a megawatt grin, but a soft, welcomed glance. "Everything okay?"

She nodded slowly, but seemed to flee into the lounge.

-*-*-

Samantha made it to the kitchen sink before she vomitted the contents of her stomach. She ran the tap and washed the contents, a diet coke and a gas station candy bar into the drain.

Carters were stubborn when it came to their feelings. The 'L' word was something that came out with difficulty. She'd only said it a few times to Pete.

Why was it so hard?


	36. Chapter 36

Grace

by Aria

Chapter Thirty - Six

Rating: Same as the show.

Disclaimer: I don't own them; if I did then I would be a hell of a lot richer. No one's paying me to write this, so I'm not making any profit from writing it. I'm just killing time.

Spoilers: In the line of duty, Divide and Conquer, Beneath the Surface, Point of No Return, Tangent, Serpent's Venom, Grace, The Other Guys, Heroes.

Synopsis: Grace arrives through the Stargate, and it's not just Sam that can see her. Set a couple of months after Heroes, and Lost City.

Just in case you still haven't noticed - even chapters tell one reality, odds another.

-*-*-

Jack O'Neill held his daughter in his arms tightly, a hand across her mouth, willing her not to make a sound.

Beyond the open door to his office moved Anubis' operative, a man who, if Jack was to believe the tape in Gate room, was able to move items, kill colleagues, via thought.

Jack's eyes struggled not to water, as he lifted his ankles further off the floor and prayed that his opponent couldn't hear the slight creaks in the mahogany.

Eventually the sense of tension passed, and Jack felt his calves relax.

He begged the Gods for silence when his radio crackled into action. "Ba'al's just come through the Gate."

Sam's voice.

Part of his heart rejoiced. Another portion was terrified of the enemy overhearing her radio transmission.

Jack pushed his ear plugs deeper, and ensured they were plugged in. The last thing he wanted to miss was a second of his beloved's voice, even if they were stranded by the evil creatures of the night.

Moments passed, leading to seconds, and eventually minutes and hours.

Jack imagined meeting Samantha in an access hatch.

Samantha imagined Jack appearing in the middle of her lab and wrapping her in a long embrace.

"I love you." They whispered to one another, between passionate kisses.

-*-*-

"I'll meet you in the Gate room." They'd make their way to the address Ba'al had programmed, they'd do so together.

Samantha's voice came over the speaker of Jack's microphone and he begged the Gods for it to be true.

The Cold Warriors approached, Jack shot one, then another, but the count down on the self destruct continued.

When Jack heard 'five' he told Daniel and Teal'C to head through the gate.

Janet and Grace followed on three.

Jack said 'I love you' to the air around him as he walked through on one.

His Gate journey was turbulent. The Gate transmitted the Cheyennne Mountain self destruct energy through the wormhole.

-*-*-

Jack was ejected from the wormhole with a significant amount of force. Immediately afterwards the gate shut down.

He rose to his feet quickly, ignoring the tightness in his chest, the groans from his knees and palms. Jack faced the gate for a brief moment and took a gulp. Teal'C, Daniel and Janet emerged him from different directions, the latter holding Grace in her arms. He looked between the three of them, unharmed.

He glanced into the distance. A towering ship could be seen beyond a forest and a well worn pathway skirted through the middle of a field heading straight in front of the gate. The gate itself was unguarded, presumably thanks to the Avenger virus.

Felger finally did something right.

"Janet, Grace, get into the woods for cover. Daniel, you and T go that way, I'll go this way - a brief perimeter check, and then back to the girls." Jack's military training kicked in.

Daniel and Jack held a glance.

I'm sorry.

Me too.

Saying the statements aloud was meaningless.

-*-*-


	37. Chapter 37

Grace

by Aria

Chapter Thirty-Seven

Rating: Same as the show.

Disclaimer: I don't own them; if I did then I would be a hell of a lot richer. No one's paying me to write this, so I'm not making any profit from writing it. I'm just killing time.

Spoilers: In the line of duty, Divide and Conquer, Beneath the Surface, Point of No Return, Tangent, Serpent's Venom, Grace, The Other Guys, Heroes.

Synopsis: Grace arrives through the Stargate, and it's not just Sam that can see her. Set a couple of months after Heroes, and Lost City.

Hello guys, I'm back! I moved and we didn't have the internet for the last two months, unfortunately, there are no internet cafes in town either! Madness.

For the last chapter (36, in the alternate reality to this one) I couldn't face writing pages of action scenes and tension and so on, I hope most readers got the jist, it might become clearer if you didn't. This story isn't going to be much longer now.

Oh, and just in case you still haven't noticed - even chapters tell one reality, odds another.

-*-*-

Jack O'Neill uncorked the rich red wine and poured what was left of the bottle into their wine glasses. Through the archway and down the small corridor he could hear Sam's soft singing voice, a lullaby attempting to send Grace to sleep.

Samantha hadn't been herself since she'd arrived back from Colorado. She'd seemed nervous and quiet, but Jack O'Neill hadn't been able to put his finger on any one thing in particular so far. Nothing he did seemed to put her at ease and as was their custom, he hadn't continued to ask.

The last two nights she'd gone to bed shortly after Grace, feigning exhaustion, even though Jack was sure that a few hours of swimming weren't enough to put his hardy 2IC through her paces.

Swimming.

The sight of Samantha Carter in a swimsuit wasn't one he was liable to quickly forget.

They'd packed family fun into Grace's few days at the cabin. Yesterday he'd woken early to fish and Samantha long before him to run, and then when Grace bounded out of bed and hit him on the deck at a running pace he'd made his special omelette for them. Grace had spent the morning colouring and collecting snails in the shade at the edge of the wood whilst he continued to cast his hook.

Samantha must've run twenty miles because she made it back to the cabin around lunch time, soaked in sweat and starving.

Jack had flipped a few pork steaks and they'd been to town for icecream afterwards, eventually spotting a funfair on the way home.

Grace had only been sent to sleep yesterday with the promise of heading to the funfair after nap time today, and so her drawings this morning had been of bright lights and ferris wheels whilst Sam had insisted on doing their laundry and other various bits of housework in the morning.

After nap time, which Jack was very sure was not spent napping, he'd released the snails back into the wood and they'd headed to the funfair, but had returned shortly after it turned to dusk.

Sam hadn't wanted to stay in the funfair in the dark, "apparently they're a haven for paedophiles." She'd whispered to him.

Things had changed since he'd been raising Charlie, in the late eighties, early nineties. Charlie would be in his midtwenties now, he thought with a sigh. He didn't let himself work out his son's exact age or dwell too long on the facial features he would have inherited.

Jack pulled a plastic bag out from under the sink and pushed ten or so collected pairs of dirty boxers into the washing machine. Samantha appeared behind him. "Woah, she's one overstimulated child this evening." She muttered, standing by his side and collecting a glass of wine.

It didn't matter whose was whose anymore. They'd swapped a shared canteens on missions for nearly a decade.

Jack dropped some dusty detergent tablets on top of the pile and closed the washing machine door. As he rose to his feet, with a groan from his knees, he caught Sam's eye.

"Something I missed out?" She asked

Jack shook his head, "Not sure if I'm ready for you to wash my tidy whities yet, Carter." They were all black, but he wasn't sure if he was ready for her to know that either.

She was blushing.

Jack reached around Sam and picked up his, by default, glass of wine and sipped. "She'll be comatose as soon as there's no one to talk to." He informed her, "what about you?"

Calling her on her recent behaviour. Sam looked caught off guard.

"You've been tired lately, hitting the hay with Grace. Going to stay up with me tonight?"

Sam took a swig of her drink whilst he spoke, gently swilling the drink in her mouth for a moment to give herself time to think.

Jack pretended not to notice, and leant casually back against the counter. Eventually she nodded.

"Great!" Jack headed into the lounge and waited by one of the chairs for her to follow, pass him, and take up a spot on the couch. "We've got a few movies, classics, that we could watch - or there's Scrabble." She'd sat down by now, so he waggled his eyebrows at her. She took a little laugh.

Hitting a high note in their currently awkward relationship Jack sensed a winner and prodded further, "I happen to be somewhat of an expert at Scrabble."

"Really?" a smirk.

Jack's chest welled with success. "Indeed, I doubt you'll be able to come close to my score, Sam, you might as well give up now."

She chuckled and raised her glass slightly to him, "I accept your challenge sir, Scrabble it is."

Jack reached around the dusty VHS player for the even dustier game box.

-*-*-

"Right, that's it, Carter! You're so making that one up."

"Quarks?" She paused, her hand in the tile bag already.

"Yes, quarks."

Her eyes narrowed, accusingly. "I know you know what quarks are."

"Yes!" He exclaimed excitedly tapping the tiles, "Quarks - q *u* a r k s."

"It doesn't have a 'u' Jack, in physics."

"I challenge you."

Samantha snorted, rearranging her new tiles.

Jack rose to his feet.

"What are you doing?" She asked, looking up at him.

"I challenge you, Samantha Carter!" He waggled a finger at her now, and scanned his ceiling to floor shelving. "I know I've got a dictionary around here somewhere."

Samantha laughed, taking a swig of her half drunk beer. "You know because you've challenged me you lose the points for that word. The 'Q' is on a triple letter."

"Oh, no, not if I'm right Samantha, not if I'm right." Jack moved to one shelf, then the other, and eventually selected a book. "I challenge you." He announced, demonstrating the presence of a dictionary to her.

He moved back onto the floor.

"Q, q, q." He muttered to himself, flipping through the pages.

Sam came round to his side of the table and pushed the dictionary closed. She tried to take it from him.

"Oh, hello? What's going on here then?" Jack teased, pulling the book this way and that, keeping it steadily from her reach.

Samantha gradually turned a deeper and deeper red, and eventually managed to drop herself down onto Jack's lap, reaching a little too far from her grasp for the book.

Jack rested his elbows on her side, pinning her in position. She giggled - the first genuine one in a while and tried to stop herself looking like a beached whale, eventually getting enough give to turn herself onto her back.

"We have to complete the challenge, we have to read the dictionary entry."

Samantha arched her back a little, revelling in the awkward stretch that Jack's knees below gave her, before she realised, thanks to an errant glance from Jack that she was also arching her breasts in this move. Her heart flopped a little at his admiration of her body and then she became increasingly uncomfortable. "But I've admitted it."

Jack peered over at her. "Admitted what?"

Sam attempted to use her core muscles to rise to seating again and Jack restricted her. "Cheating." She muttered.

He smirked at her but found that once again he was met with a cool, deer in the headlights look. Eventually he slid gently backwards and took one of Sam's hands to assist her rise to seating. She quickly made her way back to her side of the sofa, her bright smile now replaced by a look of consideration.

Sam dropped a 'u' from her tile rack onto the triple word spot and collected another from the bag. "Your turn."

Jack was watching her, taking a slow drink from his Guiness bottle.

"Jack?" She needed distance at this moment, and every fibre of her training told her to call him 'sir'.

"The guys arrive tomorrow."

Samantha nodded slowly. Two weeks had passed quickly, the majority of it, very much fun. She'd enjoyed her daughter's company immensely. Her commanding officer's as well.

"I know." She acquiesced.

"Do you know what you want to do?" He asked her.

For a moment Jack wondered if he could see something flash from beneath her eyes, a strong emotion, and then she blinked and it was gone.

"What I want to do?" She spat out the 'I' like he was rejecting something about her in his question.

Jack frowned momentarily, confused but did his best to explain. "Yeah, I mean, I'm on Earth 99% of the time nowadays, so I can be flexible. I can have Grace all the time if you want, or..." He paused for a moment, unhappy with the option he was about to voice, "...just when you're Offworld."

Sam's manner changed entirely as he spoke. She looked away as he finished his offer and held her beer bottle in both hands, between them.

Jack cleared his throat. "I don't know how I feel about having Grace be with you all the time - I know you've got Pete, and so you could offer her a two parent household but..."

Sam cut him off, "Can we not talk about this now?"

She rose to stand.

Jack looked up at her. "We don't have many other times to discuss it. The guys will be here tomorrow afternoon." Jack had had a last minute discussion with Daniel before he'd left, wondering if he needed anything bringing, how it was all going with Sam and Grace. Unsure of what to answer, Jack had wished them a safe journey and declined offers of tapes of hockey from last week or the new Simpsons. T was going to do most of the overnight driving, but they'd be taking turns, Cassie included, now she was old enough.

"Tomorrow, in the morning."

Jack stood up. This was important, this was their daughter's future. "I think we need to ask Grace what she wants, but this is a discussion best left for the two of us in private - Sam; she thinks we're married, that this is a happy home."

Sam closed her eyes and Jack wondered why. She pinched the bridge of her nose for a moment and then moved into the kitchen. It took Jack a minute to realise he'd started to raise his voice. He followed her into the kitchen. Slightly further away from their sleeping child.

Sam placed her beer bottle on the counter top, next to the five empties and the bottle of wine they'd finished earlier in the evening.

Jack scratched his head and looked at the empties. They'd had quite a few to drink. He didn't want Grace coming home from school to Sam's boyfriend. He didn't care if they'd known each other carnally for a year now, it wouldn't change the six or seven he'd spent at her side. He couldn't bear the thought of being a 'weekend' dad. Suddenly one of his statements clicked in his head and he felt rude and apologetic. Sam tried to move past him again, he grabbed her arm.

"It's not about your abilities to parent." He spoke quietly into her side. Samantha refused to turn to look at him, but released the tension in her restrained arm. "I just don't know how I feel about her calling him 'dad'."

She looked him directly in the eye and his breath caught. "She'll never call him 'dad'." She looked away again, and he dropped his grip on her arm. They didn't move apart. "I know this is big, for her, for all of us...and I know, that to some extent we've been...playing house...these past few weeks."

Samantha shook her head. At this proximity soft blonde strands pressed against Jack's nose. She stepped away, into the archway and turned back to him. "I'm not ready for it to end tonight, Jack." She said to him.

They looked at each other, her honesty and openness startled him, and he wished he could demonstrate something other than confusion. It was only a brief moment before she headed for her bedroom, her even slow pace nothing short of a run in either of their minds.


	38. Chapter 38

Grace

by Aria

Chapter Thirty - Eight

Rating: Same as the show.

Disclaimer: I don't own them; if I did then I would be a hell of a lot richer. No one's paying me to write this, so I'm not making any profit from writing it. I'm just killing time.

Spoilers: In the line of duty, Divide and Conquer, Beneath the Surface, Point of No Return, Tangent, Serpent's Venom, Grace, The Other Guys, Heroes.

Synopsis: Grace arrives through the Stargate, and it's not just Sam that can see her. Set a couple of months after Heroes, and Lost City.

Just in case you still haven't noticed - even chapters tell one reality, odds another.

Also, geez - sorry guys, this story has been plodding on for nearly a year. Promise my next one won't be quite so prolific! It's already in my head, but I'm sitting some major postgrad exams soon, so will take a back burner til March!

-*-*-

Jack glanced down at his weapon. A modulating ray gun that Sam and Jacob had been working on for the last few months. It was nearly finished - the nearly part being the power cell. She'd jury rigged some small Naquadah reactors into the weapon when the first ground troops had been spotted on Earth - a few days ago now - but the whole thing weighed three or four times it's intended weight. They weren't long lasting either. Jack had managed twenty or so shots from this one before they'd gotten through the Earth gate, he guessed Daniel's was significantly more depleted, given he wasn't such a good shot.

He looked across at T and then over at Daniel. Grim determination played on both their faces in the dim moonlight.

Behind Daniel, standing on the floor in front of Janet, was his daughter. They'd managed to coo her to sleep for a few hours in the daylight, but the four year old swayed gently in the cool night air. Her white sundress was muddy and her hair a mess. Darkness meant bedtime to Grace, she'd never been one for monsters.

Jack sent a silent prayer that his daughter made it through this with only nightmares.

"O'Neill," Teal'C hailed for his attention.

Jack glanced into the valley below, in the direction of Teal'C's gaze.

"I believe there is a five minute interval when only two Cold warriors are taking watch in this direction. If we are able to incapacitate them, this will be enough time for Dr Fraiser and the little one to make it to the entrance at a run."

"You think Grace can make that running?" Jack O'Neill did not doubt Teal'C.

"She is fast O'Neill. I believe she may be faster than Dr Fraiser may be if she is carried."

Jack glanced over at Dr Fraiser. "What about you?" He questioned Teal'C.

Jack's own knees would hold out if needed. For his daughter his body could do anything.

"We may return for the little one and still make ample time, O'Neill." Jack nodded and they crawled back from the ledge to rejoin Grace, Janet and Daniel.

Teal'C returned as well and all listened earnestly.

"Okay, listen up. Hopefully Ba'al's got a cargo ship in there, heck, I'll take a glider, but I'd rather have something a little bigger. By T's reckoning we've got five minutes when there are only two goons on this side. So we'll take up positions as close as we can without getting detected, zap them, then you guys come running." They all nodded and Janet dropped to her knees in front of Grace.

"When I pull your arm you've gotta run as fast as you can, Gracie, do you understand?" The child nodded then looked up at her father.

"Gracie, if you can't run fast enough you wave your arms. You can't yell out, we've got to be really quiet again, okay? I'll be watching you the whole time. If you wave your arms I'll come and pick you up, but you've gotta keep running even when you think you can't run anymore."

Grace nodded, faint tears blossoming in her eyes. She was too young to understand everything going on, but she knew everyone around her wasn't happy. Jack moved towards her and dropped to the ground, he planted a kiss on her forehead and wrapped his arms tightly around her.

"You can do this baby, you're a strong, fast, brave, brave girl." He whispered to her.

Grace let a few of her tears fall and then blinked them back. She knew she wasn't supposed to cry right now. At length she composed herself. She needed to be brave for daddy. She nodded against daddy's shoulder.

Jack rose to his feet and turned to the adults. "Let's move out."

-*-*-

"I will attempt to mislead them, O'Neill."

"T, you can't! There are too many, we'll need you."

"There will be less if I deflect them. I will attempt to sabotage the power core of the base."

Jack paused a moment. The split second whilst he considered the Jaffa's offer was all that he needed, the Jaffa sprinted around the corner and down the hallway.

Jack didn't call out for his friend. He dare not alert any passing warriors to their position, hidden in an alcove off the main corridor. The sound of two running Cold warriors grimly rewarded him.

Jack took a deep swallow, preparing himself to bolt into the corridor and attempt to neutralise the two quickly enough to minimise the attention Teal'C intended to obtain.

During that pause, he heard a further pair of foot falls. He glanced at Daniel.

When the coast was finally clear they moved into the corridor and Daniel activated the door opposite themselves. They found themselves in a room with table consoles and walls of screens. In the far corner was an alcove, far darker than its distance from the light would indicate.

Daniel slid the door shut behind them, and Janet hit the panel with her zat gun, her first use of a weapon since they'd arrived on the planet. The arc narrowly missed Daniel's fingers.

"Sorry." She grimaced.

Daniel offered her a weak smile.

Janet allowed Grace to drop down to the floor, and the four year old moved over to her father to clutch his hand.

Jack relished in the contact. He had been pushing his daughter's presence to the back of his mind consciously since they first arrived on the base following the code red page, now five days ago. He longed to comfort her and tell her everything would be okay, but he had no idea if it were true.

He brushed his thumb over her knuckles. "Well, what d'ya think, Danny boy? Any chance you can use one of these computers to find us a glider bay?"

Daniel shrugged. Waving a hand over the console. It sprung to life.


	39. Chapter 39

Grace

by Aria

Chapter Thirty-Nine

Rating: Same as the show.

Disclaimer: I don't own them; if I did then I would be a hell of a lot richer. No one's paying me to write this, so I'm not making any profit from writing it. I'm just killing time.

Spoilers: In the line of duty, Divide and Conquer, Beneath the Surface, Point of No Return, Tangent, Serpent's Venom, Grace, The Other Guys, Heroes.

Synopsis: Grace arrives through the Stargate, and it's not just Sam that can see her. Set a couple of months after Heroes, and Lost City.

Just in case you still haven't noticed - even chapters tell one reality, odds another. I hope you can see how they weave together now.

-*-*-

Morning turned to lunch and lunch turned to nap time whilst both Samantha and Jack willed for more time with their pretend family.

Eventually it was Jack who bit the bullet, walking into one of the guest rooms to accept an errant corner of sheet as Samantha made the guest beds.

She smiled uneasily at him, sensing the stormy conversation on the horizon. "You don't have to do this." He said, by way of thanks.

She shrugged.

"I mean it," he reiterated, "It's my..." he stopped himself. This hadn't felt like his house for most of the last two weeks, since Sam discovered how to make herself a cup of coffee, where the wealth of frozen meat was kept, which of the leaves in window boxes doubled up as salad.

Samantha either didn't notice his pause or made little of it, as she passed him a corner of the duvet cover.

Grace had settled into a comfortable pattern with her parents. Jack did evening bath time and Sam told the bedtime Aesop's fable. Samantha prepared the afternoon snack, Jack made everyone's breakfast.

A car engine startled them both and their eyes snapped towards the window. When the car stopped neither of them recognised it, and a quick three point turn indicated it wasn't their much anticipated guests.

Jack accepted the stuffed duvet cover to do up the buttons and freed Samantha to fill the pillow cases. This was usually Daniel's room, but probably would be Janet and Cassie's on this trip.

He positioned the cover on the bed and accepted tossed pillows to position from Sam's position at the foot of the bed.

She smiled awkwardly at him. "Grace and I picked some flowers this morning. I know Daniel normally sleeps in here, but Janet and Cassie could probably share the bed."

Jack nodded, "I was thinking the same thing."

"We could put the flowers in here."

Jack nodded again, "Does smell a bit musty, I suppose."

"Shall I use a pint glass, or do you..."

"There're some vases in the kitchen, come on, I'll show you." Jack beamed and pushed past her. He led the way into the kitchen, and dug around in a high corner cupboard until he emerged with a choice of two crystal vases.

Sam blew forcefully on the one she appeared to prefer and a cloud of dust emerged, not disuading the particles stuck down by old cobwebs. She coughed a little, "Dusty."

Jack waved particles away with a relaxed hand. "Haven't had them out since the last time I had a woman up here."

Ten years ago.

Samantha rinsed the vase in the sink and grabbed the handful of flowers she and Grace had collected from the garden. For a moment Jack remembered Sarah, picking flowers for the house and unbidden from his lips emerged the statement "Not playing house at all."

Samantha froze, closing her eyes. She placed the crystal vase gently into the sink and felt the bubble they'd been living in crashing down around her. Had she, an educated, logical professional, who'd prided herself on her resolve and her ability to deal with romantic matters, really persuaded herself this could last? Had she really been that foolish about a man, her commanding officer no less.

"It's been nice here, the last few weeks, it's the upbringing I can imagine would be what Grace is used to." She offered a little statement, noncommital.

When she turned to face Jack she saw more than agitation. He snorted at her comment and angrily spat "You can say that this isn't what you want, Samantha, you said it wasn't before."

Sam frowned softly "I never said it wasn't before."

Jack startled. "Yes you did."

"No, I didn't."

He scowled. "Did."

"No, I never said that."

Samantha wondered if he was about to pull rank on her to force her to stop disagreeing with him. "The night I went to your lab and showed you the DNA results, you said this wasn't what you wanted."

"No."

Jack raised his eyebrows, a common expression between them, indicating the need for her explain what she meant.

"I may have said this wasn't how I wanted this to happen."

Jack O'Neill wasn't quite sure what to make of this statement so he remained silent to allow his mental cogs to turn.

"Having a child - mine and my commanding officers - from an alternate reality?!" She was incredulous, "I mean, it sounds like a wacky story line from science fiction!" She snorted and then added, "actually it's more like something a crazy fan would think up." She shook her head.

Albeit distracted by the science fiction comment, Jack had come to some conclusion. She hadn't said she didn't want a child. His uncertainty started to knaw at his stomach and felt hungry, like supressed anger. "Is it what you want, Samantha? A child?"

"Yes," agreed Sam. She became uncomfortable. She'd deliberately left her comment open to imply that she wouldn't be unhappy having a child with the man in front of her, she knew Jack O'Neill well. He was smart. He knew she had suggested her feelings for him. He could completely skip the point if he didn't want to acknowledge hers, or possibly, hopefully, his. Right now, she wanted him to.

She rambled on, "I didn't love Grace immediately, but I'm besotted now. She's my daughter. My feelings for her were inevitable."

"Our child?" Jack added. He looked directly at her, and try as she might, she had to stop looking around the room, at his forehead, at his cheek. She met his eyes evenly, desperate now, to back away "With me?". Samantha licked her lips, considering her reply. The word 'yes' felt so difficult to say.

"Is that what you want?" He probed, when she didn't answer.

Samantha leaned back from the kitchen counter, the cuboid of wood no longer felt like any sort of protection from the energy simmering in front of her. "Is that what you want?" She returned.

Jack didn't even need to consider the question. "I don't have a dearly beloved." He grumbled, pulling away from the conversation and moving around the counter, past her, heading for the door.

"I broke up with Pete." Sam hastily said, finding her voice.

She heard his footsteps pause, then from behind her she could sense Jack O'Neill turning to watch her. The tension easing despite the enduring silence.

When at length he didn't speak she felt a need to explain herself, felt a sense of judgement and confusion. "I told him about Grace and he wanted to be part of her life, to help raise her with me...and I realised that that...and he...wasn't what I wanted at all." She arched over the counter again, taking a deep breath before she turned to face Jack.

Jack O'Neill recognised anguish and uncertainty on Samantha Carter's face when she raised her head and finally looked him in the eyes. More disturbing was the complete honesty and obvious intonation of love that neither of them could ignore any longer. He was the base commander. She was the second in command of the base and whilst he wasn't her operational commander out in the field, sending her into harms way was a neccesary part of his job. There was no way the air force would know what to do with them. No way they could avoid hearings or court martials. No way for benevolent General George to help from Washington.

When he realised all the negative thoughts playing out in his head, the logical, in complete contradiction to Samantha's honesty and bared emotions, he looked away, embarassed.

For a moment, Jack O'Neill willed Grace to cry out, the building to start to burn or a tidal wave to erupt from the lake. These were dangers they could deal with together, side by side.

And then when his fear subsided, he recognised a sensation of overwhelming joy. He adored being in her presence, even when there had been a man vying for her affection, either on Earth or Offworld. He was reminded of all the pangs of jealousy, of the anxiety and fear for her safety, the anger he'd felt for those who'd challenged her in any way and then the lonely moments of lust.

So, he moved to her now, one hand grasping her waist and the other drawing the angle of her jaw in for a crushing kiss. After the briefest of moments of surprise, her soft lips parted, and they both moved to deepen the kiss. Jack O'Neill wrapped his arm further around her waist and pressed into her, pushing them together against the island counter. Samantha's arms came up to his chest and grasped his thin white tshirt, holding him to her. Tongues fought each other to give more attention as they took in the taste of what should've been their first kiss, him trying desperately to ensure it was remembered better than the last, the one that didn't count.

They broke, not for oxygen but to express themselves differently, and Jack moved his hands into her short blonde locks to kiss her cheek, her neck and ears and whisper into them her name.

Sam Carter kept her eyes closed as she felt the world spinning and changing around her. Jack O'Neill's kiss was so deeply passionate she felt weak in knees and stomach and her body throbbed with passion for him. She felt his soft lips touching to her nose, eyes and forehead and heard him moaning her name. When he moved to her lips again she tilted her head to him and moved her hands to his neck, irrationally worried about dropping to the floor and losing her seal with him.

Jack O'Neill pressed Samantha Carter into the island counter once more as their lips found each other. His hands roamed down from her waist to the side of her buttock and light squeeze the firm jean clad muscle. The fingers of his second hand slid easily through strands of sleek blonde hair, allowing their bodies to roll with his roaming hand and not break the increasingly important kiss.

As her bottom made contact with the counter for the second time, Samantha Carter lifted herself onto tip toes, and allowed herself to slide ontop of the polished wooden worktop.

Jack O'Neill peeled from her lips to discuss, and then, taking advantage of the elevated height, moved to kiss her neck and shoulders with ease. His hands moved up her back to the safer territory of holding her shoulders, but Samantha longed for them to move elsewhere. Soft wet kisses on her collar bone and neck unsatisfactorily ended at the edge of her tshirt. After a few moments of equisite torture, she moaned his name and gripped his back and shoulder's.

Jack O'Neill met Sam's eyes for a moment in between short soft kisses. The desire and longing reflected there was striking, and he cupped her face with his hands. "Are you sure this is what you want?" He whispered between nibbling her earlobe and jawline.

Her breath caught as he met a particularly sensitive spot. He smiled, and moved gently away from that point, storing the landmark for later use. He felt Samantha's hands burning his skin as they slid under the tshirt and up his torso, moving the material with them.

The sound of gravel moving in the driveway under tires didn't distract him, but it registered in his mind as an unwelcome intrusion to their passion. Samantha responded to his momentary pause in his ministrations, and fixed him with a startled gaze.

To reassure, Jack placed a soft, chaste kiss on her lips. Sam nodded when she heard the sound of a car engine softly dying, and heard a car door open. They smiled at each other awkwardly and separated. Samantha smoothed her hair, and Jack straightened his tee. "The boys have arrived." He moved away from her without glancing back, headed for the kitchen door to welcome their visitors.

Sam glanced out of the window, Janet and Teal'C were passing the kitchen window, thankfully having not parked directly outside where they would have had a view of their behaviour. Time was short. "Jack," she called out.

He turned, hand on the door, "Yup?"

She stumbled, not speaking. A moment passed, then another, and she saw his glance pass briefly at the window, where she assumed, in her peripheral vision, Cassie was waving at them. His hand moved on the door knob.

"Wait." She yelped again, as Janet stepped onto the porch outside the kitchen door. They waited on the steps as Jack held the handle. Presumbly wondering why he hadn't let them in.

"Carter?" He asked, "Can I let our guests in?"

"We might not get much more privacy this week, and I just wanted to say..."

Jack's eyebrows waggled.

"I love you and... if ... this is what I want, Jack. You, Grace, this family. I know it won't be easy...."

Jack's hand relaxed on the knob as more of their guests gathered behind him.

Sam smirked and turned slightly away from the onlookers to duck into the shadows. "At least we'll have one extra guest room if you're sleeping with me."

Jack shook his head, smiling broadly. Samantha went a shade of beetroot, and when finally allowed into the house, Daniel kept trying to ask what was going on, whilst Janet needled him in the ribs, Teal'C raised an eyebrow, and Cassie wandered into the back room to meet her darling new cousin.

-*-*-


	40. The End in the Beginning

Grace

by Aria

Chapter Forty

Rating: Same as the show.

Disclaimer: I don't own them; if I did then I would be a hell of a lot richer. No one's paying me to write this, so I'm not making any profit from writing it. I'm just killing time.

Spoilers: In the line of duty, Divide and Conquer, Beneath the Surface, Point of No Return, Tangent, Serpent's Venom, Grace, The Other Guys, Heroes.

Synopsis: Grace arrives through the Stargate, and it's not just Sam that can see her. Set a couple of months after Heroes, and Lost City.

Just in case you still haven't noticed - even chapters tell one reality, odds another.

This chapter is a bit grizzly. Those of the faint of heart may want to skim read sections.

-*-*-

"So, you're saying it's an alternate reality thingy, like that mirror on 233?"

"I don't even pretend to understand the physics that Ba'al's working on here, but that appears to be its goal." Daniel clarified.

"But I don't understand, Daniel," Janet began, chipping in, "What possible use could a Goa'ld have for something like that?"

"Who knows, maybe he hoped to find new technologies, or new slaves or Jaffa untouched by the rebellion?"

Jack let out a soft whistle, moving over to the alcove. "And I thought we could use it as the potty corner."

Daniel and Janet glanced at each other, rolling their eyes.

Daniel hit a button on a console and in the dark corner a door slid open, revealing blinding light for a second before an inner chamber appeared.

Jack clutched his ray gun to his chest and pushed his daughter back into the room behind the door jam. He stepped cautiously into the chamber. The room was bright blue and white, and in the centre were several rings, and more consoles, but no other entry or exit, and no enemy troops.

He returned to the main room. "Do you know how to activate it?"

Daniel shrugged.

"Well, work it out - it's plan B."

-*-*-

A tear dropped from Janet's eyes as the door slammed shut, amputating Jack's left leg through the tibia and fibula. Jack screamed out in pain and behind her Janet felt Grace shudder and screech.

Janet glanced over at the child for a split second before she ran over to Jack.

"Okay, I think it's locked."

Janet saw tears in Jack's eyes as she quickly assessed A,B and C.

"Geeze, Doc, can I have something for the pain."

Airway was fine then.

"Daniel!" Janet yelled out.

Daniel ran over, slipping on the floor. He grabbed the morphine from Janet's hastily dropped Mobimed pack and twisted it, breaking the seal before he removed the preloaded syringe. 100mg of morphine would kill Jack, if he weren't in so much pain, even still, it had to be given cautiously. Daniel knew this, starting with a 10mg shot into Jack's deltoid muscle.

Jack gritted his teeth. He knew from too much experience that pain relief from intramuscular morphine wasn't immediate. "Thanks Danny boy, but I got the pain control." He grasped for the morphine vial in Daniel's hand earning himself a needle stick puncture. He barely noticed it. Daniel looked at him.

"Plan B." Daniel nodded and looked over at Janet. She nodded slowly.

There was no oxygen, no stethoscope here, so short of a tension pneumothorax there was little she could do to help his breathing. Good job his laboured breathing seemed to be pain induced then.

Circulation, she had one bag of fluid, loads of cannulae. Haemorrhage control. She grabbed the rubber tourniquet and assessed Jack's leg. Too much muscle loss to grip below the knee. She took a tear laden deep breath and swiftly lifted the leg. She knelt against it, maintaining the leg above her as Jack screamed in pain. She wrapped the tourniquet around his thigh, his uniform acting as sleek, pushing something metal from one of his pockets so it wouldn't get caught under the tourniquet. When the rubber was fastened she squeezed the pump, watching the little digital pneumatic gauge.

She glanced across at Grace, her neice rocking with her fingers in her ears, her face turned away.

Janet pumped quickly and stiffly. She needed to manually inflate the tourniquet to at least 250 milimetres of mercury to stop the flow of blood from Jack's leg. She could feel the fluid, cooling on her back, and eventually the flow stopped.

Janet relaxed a little. When she placed the leg back down she watched for further bleeding and relaxed just a little further when there wasn't. Jack didn't wail out in pain this time. Jack's slower, still laboured breathing told her he was still in pain and so she checked the morphine needle over. Minimal scuffing from his uniform, so after giving another quick shot into his arm she pulled down his trousers a little, feeling for a pulse before changing the syringe for one of local anaesthetic and infiltrating the femoral nerve. Not the cautious ultrasound guided technique her anaesthesiology professor taught her, but effective none the least.

"Thanks, Doc." Janet nodded and slipped the largest cannula she had into his numb groin, loosing a little blood again before she hooked up the bag of fluid. She laid it over her shoulder and opened the infusion set wide.

Behind her the door jolted.

Janet shook at the sudden sound and swallowed hard. She'd never tried her hand at battlefield amputations, but she found herself praying she'd be given the chance to make Jack's stump even a little better.

"How's it coming Daniel?" Jack bellowed. Reminding a fearful Janet that he was indeed very much alive. Janet pulled his briefs and trousers up a little, taking care not to dislodge her hastily secured cannula.

Daniel ran over to hover over Jack. "It's warming up, it'll activate when it's done. You can only control it from inside the spheres then."

"Better get you closer then, Colonel." Janet muttered. She and Daniel both took an arm each and tugged him to lean against the nearest console. Another shake of the door pulled their attention away and they left him propped up.

"Grace?" Jack asked quietly. Janet nodded. She pulled off her bloody jacket and draped it over the Colonel's missing lower leg, before collecting the child.

Grace's face was bright red and tearstained. It took a few stubborn tugs to get her to unplug her ears and then she came over to her Daddy. Janet knelt her on her father's good side, keeping hold of his radial pulse and squeezing the fluid bag on the other.

"In a few minutes we're going to step into those circles there and things are going to be very different." Jack said squeezing his daughter's shoulder. "Uncle Daniel is going to make sure the place on the other side is safe, okay?"

Grace nodded quietly sobbing.

"None of the monsters there, okay?" Jack smiled at his daughter, pulling her against him. "Mommy and Daddy will be there, but they may be hard to find." Janet looked at Jack, startled, but he was just looking at his daughter with a expression of love and encouragement. She looked up and quickly caught Daniel's eyes. "They are going to love you, just like I do, just like Mommy does...but it might feel different at the beginning. It doesn't matter what is different in that place, but I can promise you that, okay."

Grace dipped her head between her daddy's shoulders and sobbed, "Why can't you come daddy?"

"I'll be there, Gracie."

The door jolted again and Grace froze, startled. Jack wrapped his free arm around his daughter before shaking the doctor loose of the second one and enveloping the tiny girl.

"Jack?" He heard a sternly concerned voice.

"Daniel." He admonished.

"Sir!" Janet began.

"Get my daughter through that mirror to safety, Doctor." Jack growled. "That's an order."

"Jack?"

"You too Daniel." His friend's shaking head appeared. "Someone has to make sure those bastards don't follow you."

The rings around the platform in the centre of the room came to life, they began spinning as three independant circles very slowly.

Jack heard them. "Go!"

Janet took a deep breath and placed her side arm down next to her commanding officer. She then tugged at Grace, turning her and pressing her into her own shoulder before rising from the ground.

"It's been an honour serving with you, sir." She said, watching as he collected her side arm and removed the safety catch.

He nodded, his gaze lingering on the infant in her arms before returning to the door. Daniel and she moved around opposing sides of the console and stepped onto the platform between the rings gradually speeding arcs.

The spinning circles created a strong wind around the edge of the platform and the two stood close together, holding Grace between them. Arcs of light Janet had initially thought were sparks from friction between the rings began to meet in the middle of circle and form a wall, pieces of different worlds. Some looked like the lab, some with Ba'al at work, some empty, but mainly the images were of the green night on the planet.

'Sam would've found this amazing' Janet thought, as Grace's eyes finally pulled from her chest to look around her again. Her eyes widened at the picture screen before her.

A jolt of a projectile hitting one of the rings disrupted an image and they looked out in the lab to see the door half up and the cold warriors legs taking an ineffective spray of Jack's gunfire.

Daniel pressed a small tablet against Grace's back and into Janet's hands. The expression on his face changed.

"Daniel?!"

"When you see a world that looks safe, press that symbol. It'll lock it."

Janet shook her head, incredulous.

"I've got the weapon, Janet, he doesn't stand a chance without it."

A tear dropped onto Grace's damp hair.

Daniel rotated his grip around the cold warrior blaster and looked at Janet again. He dropped his head down to her level and placed a quick chaste kiss on her lips. She responded for only a second before he pulled away. "You probably shouldn't jump through until the picture is complete though."

Daniel dove through the arcs of the rings, feeling one and then another hit him on the way through. He saw Janet's lips move to call his name as he landed on the floor in the lab again.

He moved to Jack and barely registered his friend's surprise before he aimed the weapon at the offending cold warrior feet. They fell to the floor, slumping largely just outside the doorway.

Jack smiled at Daniel, pulling himself to sit slightly higher. He reached out a hand which Daniel grabbed and pulled him to stand, they embraced as the door to the compartment began to slide closed again. There were worst things than dying in battle, side by side with your best friend.

Jack's radio crackled to life. "It has been an honour to serve with you, O'Neill." Teal'C's voice echoed around the room.

They laughed, patting each other's backs.

-*-*-

Teal'C smiled ironically in the power core control room and set off his explosives.

-*-*-

The room had dissolved into white, such was the speed of the rotating arcs around them, but Janet knew something had happened when she noted a patch of yellow. The picture was near complete, but was changing every few seconds. She held Grace as tightly as she could before taking the plunge and jumping through the picture wall.

The white dissolved in flames of yellow and eventually broke apart, joining the rubble of the exploded Goa'uld base, but not before Janet and Grace found themselves lying on the floor in a grassy clearing, with only the distant sound of owls.

Janet took a deep breath, sent a silent prayer of thanks and wondered what this reality held in store.

-*-*-

Well guys, that's the tale of Grace.

I hope you have enjoyed it and I look forward to the feedback.

There is an optional epilogue which not everyone will like and I will write soon. That said, I didn't realise that I'd been writing this story for over a year!

I have a few other ideas in the pipeline too, just to keep me ticking over 'til Revolutions is made!


End file.
